Braz admits he tried to woo Neymar's father when the striker was at PSG

In partnership with

Coluna do Fla

·07 de abril de 2026

Braz admits he tried to woo Neymar's father when the striker was at PSG

Flamengo negotiated Neymar’s signing in the 2022/23 season

Now a Santos player, Neymar has never hidden his desire to wear the Flamengo shirt. In fact, the midfielder’s dream came close to becoming reality in the 2022/23 season, when Marcos Braz spoke with the player’s father and agent. Thus, the former Fla executive recalled the negotiations and revealed details of the case.

I did speak with his father, who is the person handling his career, when he was at PSG. But he had a contract that, at a certain point, he could choose whether or not to trigger (a renewal option), and a little later PSG could also trigger it. And PSG had made it clear that they were going to trigger it. It was the kind of signing at the time where you couldn’t just crunch the numbers. You had to go there, talk to his father and build a financial project, because under no circumstances could his salary payments come out of Flamengo’s cash flow. Especially because I knew how much it was at the time. I approached his father to understand that dissatisfaction, that instability when he was at PSG. I met him at the Copacabana Palace, to be more precise. He treated me with the utmost respect in the world; they always treated me with the utmost respect, his father in relation to Flamengo, with great affection, and he had a good relationship with me. I didn’t have the conditions to try to bring him because those conditions only came about after I left. At that time, he was under contract with PSG, which had paid 222 million euros for him,” Braz revealed in an interview with ‘Lance!’.

What was Neymar’s situation like in the 2022/23 season?

Signed by PSG (FRA) in 2017, Neymar was not enjoying a good spell at the club in 2023. It is no surprise that the midfielder faced constant boos from the fans at the Parc des Princes, the French team’s stadium, which led to a strained relationship with the club’s board. As a result, at the end of the season, the player moved to Al Hilal (SAU).

Vídeos OneFootball

Would Neymar like to play for Flamengo?

It is worth remembering that Neymar has already said several times that he would like to wear the Flamengo shirt. In June 2024, for example, the player was at the Maracanã to watch Fla’s match against Grêmio and, after the game, declared his love for the Rubro-Negro.

“I’ve always said this (that it’s my dream to play for Flamengo). Obviously, Flamengo is my second favorite team. The first is Santos, with all due respect to the team that raised me, which I’ve supported since I was little. But I have a lot of affection for Flamengo, and it would be a huge pleasure if one day I could play here,” Neymar said in an interview with ‘Flamengo TV’.

What is Neymar’s situation in 2026?

After an underwhelming spell at Al Hilal, Neymar agreed to return to Brazil in January 2025 to wear the Santos shirt. However, the midfielder missed the game against Flamengo last Sunday (05), which ended in a 3-1 win for Rubro-Negro, as he had to serve a suspension.

What is Flamengo’s next match?

Meanwhile, Flamengo remain focused on their next commitment of 2026. At Inca Garcilaso de la Vega Stadium in Peru, Rubro-Negro will face Cusco (PER) at 9:30 p.m. Brasília time this Wednesday (08), in the opening round of the Libertadores.

As tradition dictates, Coluna do Fla will bring all the details of the match between Flamengo and Cusco through YouTube, the website and social media. However, GE TV (streaming), Globo (free-to-air TV) and Paramount+ (streaming) will broadcast the Libertadores match.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.