Neymar Dos Santos Jr., the Brazilian superstar, is on the brink of ending his five-year tenure at Paris Saint Germain (PSG) with an impending move to Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal.
As per a report from Brazilian outlet Globosport, Kylian Mbappe, the French international and World Cup champion, orchestrated a clever strategy to prompt PSG to put Neymar on the transfer market.
Allegedly, he engaged social media figures, including John Honesty (@ExJohnHoonestyy), to propagate his desire to depart the club.
The report suggests that Mbappe’s objective was to aid in Neymar’s departure from the club and have Dembele take his place.
After spending much of his summer training in isolation due to his refusal to extend his contract, Mbappe returned to full training shortly after the club announced the acquisition of Ousmane Dembele from Barcelona.
John Honesty’s account has been deactivated as Neymar’s move to Al Hilal appears to be nearing completion, and Mbappe resumed training after expressing his willingness to discuss a contract extension following Dembele’s signing.
Meanwhile, Neymar is a step away from finalising his transfer to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
During the pre-season, Paris Saint-Germain excluded Mbappe from their squad preparations after contract extension negotiations hit a snag.
French media reports indicated that PSG suspected the 24-year-old had reached an agreement to join Real Madrid on a free transfer.
Mbappe inked a three-year contract with PSG in the 2022 summer transfer window. The deal consists of an initial two-year term with an option for an additional year, as reported by Sky Sports.
Initially set to initiate discussions with other clubs in January 2024, after PSG failed to activate the contract extension clause, the breakdown of talks resulted in his absence from PSG’s opening match against Lorient. However, his return suggests that he is on the verge of extending his contract.