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Will Neymar return to Santos?

7 brilliant Brazilians who thrived after returning to their boyhood club

Former AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid stars are among the Brazilian players who have thrived after returning to their boyhood club.

The Brazilian Serie A has an excellent reputation for developing young and upcoming stars and plenty of them end up returning to the league in their twilight years.

With Neymar currently being heavily linked with a romantic return to Santos, we’ve taken a look at seven other Brazilian players who did the business after returning to their boyhood club.

Adriano

After his career in Europe had begun to stall, Adriano returned to Flamengo in 2009 and quickly rediscovered his form.

The Brazilian scored 19 goals in his first season back at the club and fired Flamengo to the league title in the process.

“I can hardly believe it,” Adriano said after Flamengo won their first league title since 1992.

“I’m remembering all I went through, I don’t even have strength left to celebrate. Really, this is a dream, to be a champion again and, above all, to be happy.”

His eye-catching form in Brazil even earned him a move back to Europe as Roma took a punt on him in the summer of 2010, albeit that move didn’t quite go to plan.

Romario

Romario returned to Vasco da Gama three times in total, with his most notable spell being between 2000 and 2002.

During that three-year stint, he scored 132 goals in 135 games and added a couple of trophies to his collection too.

Following various other stints around the globe, he also returned to the club in 2005 and 2007, scoring a total of 54 goals during those two spells. Not too shabby.

Lucas Moura

After running down his contract at Tottenham, Moura made a romantic return to Sao Paulo, 11 years after he originally left the club.

While most players in their early thirties are still ripping things up in Europe, the former Spurs winger was ready for a fresh challenge in 2023 and he’s not looked back since.

Since returning, the 32-year-old has made 66 appearances and he’s racked up a respectable 27 goal contributions in that time.

He also got his hands on the Copa do Brasil last year too.


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Kaka

Kaka’s return to Sao Paulo was short but sweet. He was given a hero’s welcome amid his return to the Estadio do Morumb and was greeted by around 20,000 adoring fans.

With seven goal contributions in 24 appearances while on loan from Orlando City, he gave his boyhood club something to remember him by.

Fernandinho

The Manchester City legend returned to boyhood club Athletico Paranaense in the summer of 2022 following a nine-year stint in the Premier League.

He enjoyed a good first 18 months back at the club, although his 2024 campaign ended in disaster as his side were relegated to  Serie B on the final day of the season.

Amid plenty of speculation surrounding his future, Fernandinho recently confirmed that he won’t be renewing his contract in 2025.

“The moment has come to follow new paths, but I leave with the certainty that my bond with CAP will never be broken,” the 39-year-old wrote on Instagram.

Marcelo

While his reunion at Fluminense might have ended on a sour note following his public spat with head coach Mano Menezes, Marcelo still enjoyed some good moments while back in Brazil.

The Real Madrid legend racked up 68 appearances during his second spell at Fluminense and won three trophies including the Copa Libertadores.

Since being released by the club in November last year, the 36-year-old has been without a club.

Marcelo, Fluminense player during the match against Athletico-PR

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Gabriel Barbosa

While coming through the ranks at Santos, Barbosa had the world at his fingertips. With 56 goals in 154 appearances during his first stint at the club, it’s no wonder that plenty of top European sides were sniffing around.

However, after failing to make an impression at Inter Milan or Benfia, he quickly found himself back at Santos just a couple of years after leaving.

While on loan in 2018, he bagged an impressive 27 goals across all competitions and seemed to rediscover his mojo.

Ultimately, a permanent move to Santos didn’t materialise, but he has stuck around in Brazil since then playing for Flamengo and now Cruzeiro.

We’d love to see the 28-year-old back in Europe at some point, but he seems to be settled in Brazil for the time being.