Santos finalised the signing of Philippe Coutinho until the end of the season.

The Brazilian club has been strengthening its squad, which has already been bolstered by experienced players such as Rodinei, Arthur, Lima and Everton Cebolinha. Having narrowly avoided relegation at the end of last year, the team currently sits in 13th place in the league and hopes that the new signings will provide the extra boost needed to ensure a smooth run-in to the end of the season.

Neymar asked, Santos delivered

Coutinho’s signing came about following a personal request made to the Santos board by none other than Neymar, a nine-time nominee for the ‘Ballon d'Or’ award.

The club’s director of football, Alexandre Mattos, promptly complied with the request. After all, a request from Neymar must be taken seriously: the dribbling maestro has already scored over 150 goals for ‘Peixe’ and led the team to six titles during his first spell at the club, including the 2011 Copa Libertadores.

A few days ago, Neymar commented on a post about possible future signings for Santos and got straight to the point: “Coutinho is my dream.” (ESPN Brasil)

Negotiations with Coutinho were initiated by Neymar’s team, who played a key role in moving the deal forward.

Coutinho returns to Brazilian football

Coutinho had been without a club since February, when he requested the termination of his contract with Vasco. The contract was due to run until the middle of this year, and the club had planned to renew it. The player cited mental health issues as the reason for his decision and even hinted at a possible retirement. That idea, however, has been put on hold, as he will play for Santos until December, when the Brazilian season ends.

Where his career will take him after that remains to be seen.

The 34-year-old began his career in Vasco’s youth ranks before moving to Inter Milan at the age of 18. He won an Italian Super Cup with the club and spent a spell on loan at Espanyol before moving to Liverpool in 2013. It was during his next five seasons in England that Coutinho came to be widely regarded as one of the world’s best midfielders, thanks to his creativity and ability to produce unpredictable moves. He made over 200 appearances and scored more than 50 goals for the Reds, earning his first and only nomination for the Ballon d'Or in 2017. He subsequently played for Barcelona, Aston Villa and Al-Duhail, before returning to Vasco in 2024.

A friendship that began in the youth teams

Coutinho and Neymar never actually played together for any of their clubs. At Barcelona, for example, their time at the club did not overlap: Coutinho joined the Catalan club around six months after Neymar had left for Paris Saint-Germain.

However, with only four months’ difference in age, the two saw their careers intersect repeatedly through the Brazilian national team.

In late 2009, Coutinho and Neymar took part in the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria. Although Brazil were knocked out in the group stage of the tournament, it was there that a lifelong friendship began to blossom between the boy from Rio de Janeiro who played for Vasco and the boy from São Paulo who played for Santos.

The pair were also part of Brazil’s brilliant 2011 Under-20 generation – which also included players such as Casemiro, Oscar and Lucas Moura – but ultimately did not play in the same Under-20 tournament. Neymar was the top scorer at the 2011 South American Under-20 Championship, which Brazil won. That campaign ultimately led to his permanent promotion to the senior national team, meaning he missed out on that same year’s FIFA Under-20 World Cup. Coutinho, meanwhile, missed out on Brazil’s victorious campaign in the South American Under-20 Championship due to injury, but returned to the squad in time for the Under-20 World Cup, which Brazil also won.

From the Copa América to the World Cup

The first major international tournament in which Coutinho and Neymar played together was the 2015 Copa América in Chile. Brazil reached the quarter-finals, with Neymar captaining the side.

The next tournament in which the pair played together again also turned out to be their last: the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Coutinho and Neymar each scored two goals during Brazil’s campaign, but the team were knocked out by Belgium in the quarter-finals.

The pair have made a combined total of 198 appearances and scored 101 goals for the Brazilian national team throughout their careers with the ‘Amarelinha’. The last time they played together was in the 5–1 victory over South Korea in a friendly match played in June 2022.

Both have been dubbed the “Little Magicians” throughout their playing careers and are now set to join forces to bring even more magic to football fans in Brazil and around the world – coming together for the first time at the same club.