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Philippe Coutinho, the former star of Liverpool, Barcelona, and the Brazilian national team, has signed with Brazilian club Santos, where he will link up once again with longtime friend and former international teammate Neymar.
Coutinho had been a free agent since February, after cutting ties with his childhood club Vasco da Gama, citing severe mental exhaustion as the driving force behind his exit. While retirement was reportedly on the table, the 34-year-old attacking midfielder ultimately chose to press on with his playing career at Santos.
Ready to make his return to competitive football, Coutinho has signed a contract with Santos running through the end of the current season in December. El Peixe currently sit 10th in the Brazilian league table and are just one match away from securing a spot in the Copa Sudamericana (South America's equivalent of the Europa League) semifinals.
At Santos, Coutinho will cross paths again with former colleagues including Arthur and Gabriel Barbosa, but the most anticipated reunion is undoubtedly with Neymar, whom Coutinho credited as the key figure behind his decision to join the club.
Coutinho Reveals Neymar's Role In Santos Move
Coutinho was officially presented at Santos on Monday, with the "little magician" formally introduced during a press conference. He openly acknowledged how pivotal Neymar was in convincing him to sign, revealing that the move had been in the making for several months.
"Neymar certainly played a very important role in my coming here," Coutinho said, via ESPN. "He's a player who needs no introduction, a friend I've had since childhood, and I think he was the first person in football to send me a message when I left Vasco."
"The next day he had already sent me a message, but at that moment I said: 'Look Ney, it would be a pleasure to play with you, but I'm not feeling well right now, it's not possible' and it really didn't make sense to me."
"Months later he contacted me again, but my answer was the same. Then two weeks ago he sent me another message. Then I stopped, reconsidered, I wanted to go back to playing football and I thought: 'Why not?' I'm going to a big club, in another city. It would be unfair to me not being able to go back to work and not being able to go back to playing football. I wanted to thank the president [Marcelo Teixeira], [Alexandre] Mattos and Ney. I'm happy to accept this challenge."
Neymar gave Coutinho a warm welcome at Santos' training facility in a video shared on social media on Monday. After exchanging a big embrace, Neymar was heard saying, "If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up."
Neymar and Coutinho's Careers Have Always Been Intertwined
Both born in 1992, Neymar and Coutinho came up through Brazil's youth ranks together, appearing side by side at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup. While Neymar's ascent to the senior national team was rapid, Coutinho eventually joined him in La Seleção, and the two became central figures for Brazil throughout the late 2010s.
The duo spearheaded Brazil's attack at the 2018 World Cup, each netting twice as the team advanced to the quarterfinals. That tournament marked their final senior international appearance together, as a serious ankle injury kept Neymar out of the 2019 Copa América — a competition Coutinho and Brazil went on to win. The last time the two shared a pitch was in a friendly against South Korea in June 2022.
At club level, Coutinho made his move to Barcelona in January 2018, roughly six months after Neymar's then-record transfer to Paris Saint-Germain. Following a standout spell at Liverpool, Coutinho arrived in Catalonia as part of Barça's strategy to replace the void Neymar had left behind.
Coutinho's time at Barcelona proved deeply disappointing, and after two seasons he was shipped out on loan to Bayern Munich. His single campaign there proved fruitful, however, as he claimed the 2019–20 Champions League title — ironically at the expense of Neymar's PSG in the final.
Following forgettable spells at Aston Villa, Al Duhail SC, and Vasco da Gama, Coutinho is set to begin a fresh chapter at Santos — and for the first time in their careers, he will finally get to play alongside Neymar at club level.