Lucas Veríssimo back at Santos after turbulent 2021 exit | OneFootball

Santos have brought back Lucas Veríssimo for 2026, five years after a fraught exit. The centre-back’s final months featured clashes with the hierarchy and he at times asked not to play in the Conmebol Libertadores.

According to Globo.com, Veríssimo joined Santos in 2013 at 17 and left in February 2021 after their Libertadores runners-up finish, moving to Benfica. Tension grew as his European release stalled.

On 3 December 2020, the club council rejected a Benfica sale for the second time, saying the terms would burden future boards. Veríssimo then asked not to face Grêmio in the first leg of the quarter-finals, telling Cuca he was not in the right headspace.

He had earlier threatened to sit out against LDU after the first rejection. A taskforce led by Cuca, president Orlando Rollo and sporting chief Felipe Ximenes persuaded him to reverse course for a key fixture.

The unrest followed years of stop-start moves. In 2017 Nantes were rebuffed, in 2018 he was close to Spartak Moscow, in 2019 he drew interest from Torino and Roma, and in 2020 he nearly joined Porto before election-period approvals complicated talks.

Despite the rancour, he tried to soothe tensions and said in a farewell post that Santos was forever. After Benfica he played for Corinthians, then moved to Qatar. Santos have agreed a deal worth four million euros for 70% of his rights from Al-Duhail, to be paid over four years, with the first instalment due in December.

Source: Globo.com