Coutinho joins Neymar at Santos for the remainder of the season

Philippe Coutinho has joined his close friend and Brazil teammate Neymar at Santos FC until the end of the season.

The former Liverpool and Barcelona midfielder, 34, has been without a club since leaving Vasco da Gama in February.

Coutinho returned to his childhood club in 2024 but left after 81 appearances, saying he was “mentally tired”.

Santos welcomed the player on social media by posting an old photo of Coutinho and Neymar as teenagers, alongside a new version of them posing in the gym.

The club also released a video of Coutinho entering the dressing room where he receives a hug from Neymar and says “if it’s a dream, I don’t want to wake up”.

Neymar returned to Santoshis childhood team in January last year and this will be the first time his friends will play together at club level.

Coutinho began his career at Vasco before moving to Inter Milan and then Liverpool in 2013, where he scored 54 goals in 201 games before joining Barcelona for £142 million in 2018.

He subsequently played at Bayern Munich, Aston Villa and Al-Duhail before returning to Vasco.