Rio De Janeiro: New Santos manager Cleber Xavier says Neymar will have a free-roaming role under his leadership as the club seeks to recover from its poor start to the season.
In his first press conference since officially replacing Pedro Caixinha, Xavier said Neymar was unlikely to return to the left wing, the position in which he rose to prominence at Barcelona.
“He played on that side [the left] at Barcelona and with the national team but now he is more suited to an attacking midfielder role,” Xavier said. Tite [former Brazil boss Adenor Bacchi] called him a bow and an arrow at the same time because he organizes and also finishes the attacking moves. He has played like that for a long time and I see him doing that here too.”
Neymar, who rejoined his boyhood club Santos from Al-Hilal in January, has struggled with a series of leg muscle injuries since returning from a torn anterior cruciate ligament last October.
The 33-year-old has played just nine games in his latest spell with the eight-time Brazilian top-flight champion, scoring three goals and providing three assists.
Xavier, an assistant coach for Brazil’s national team from 2016 to 2022, said he was confident Neymar would soon overcome his physical problems and recapture his best form.
And he denied suggestions that the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star was not fully committed to Santos’ cause.
“Neymar returned to the club he loves,” Xavier said. “He is happy to be here and his teammates are happy to be with him. We worked together for six and a half years. He is an idol – one of the greatest players of the last few years.
“People ask me if Neymar is a problem. Never, not once. He has always been a solution, on and off the field. The first player I met with was him. He said he is happy to be with me and I am too.”
Even though Neymar has yet to return to training, Xavier said the No. 10 was exerting a positive influence on his teammates.
“He brings joy to the locker room,” the head coach said. “We spoke briefly about this yesterday. Just by being around the place he is participating, even without playing. That’s the unity that I want to bring. We want to build a strong relationship between the whole squad and that will hopefully become evident in the way we play.”
Santos is currently 19th in the 20-team Brazilian Serie A standings with just one win from six matches so far. Xavier’s first match in charge will be an away clash against Gremio on Sunday.
