Philippe Coutinho Returns to Santos FC with Neymar

Philippe Coutinho has reunited with close friend and Brazil team-mate Neymar at Santos FC, signing a deal until the end of the season.

The 34-year-old playmaker has been without a club since leaving Vasco da Gama in February. He had returned to his boyhood side in 2024 and made 81 appearances before walking away, admitting he was "tired mentally".

Now he is back in familiar surroundings again – this time at Neymar’s childhood club.

Santos announced the move with a heavy dose of nostalgia, posting an old photograph of Coutinho and Neymar as teenagers alongside a new shot of the pair recreating the same pose in the gym. The club then released a video of Coutinho entering the dressing room, where Neymar greets him with a hug. Coutinho’s words are simple but telling: "If it's a dream, I don't want to wake up."

Neymar rejoined Santos in January last year, completing his own emotional return. Despite years together with the national team, this will be the first time the two friends share a pitch at club level.

For Coutinho, it marks another turn in a winding career. He came through at Vasco before moving to Inter Milan, then truly exploded at Liverpool after arriving in 2013. At Anfield, he scored 54 goals in 201 games and earned a blockbuster £142m transfer to Barcelona in 2018.

His journey then took him to Bayern Munich, Aston Villa and Al-Duhail, before that short-lived second spell at Vasco.

Now comes a new chapter in Brazil, alongside Neymar, at a club that thrives on big names and big stories.