Neymar clashes with Robinho’s son during Santos training

Neymar clashes with Robinho’s son during Santos training

While working on his comeback for the Brazilian national team, Neymar is making negative headlines at his hometown club Santos. During Sunday’s training session, the 34-year-old got into an argument with Robinho Junior, the son of former Manchester City winger Robinho.

As per a report by Brazilian outlet Ge Globo, Robinho Jr. dribbled past Neymar during a training game, which was not received well by the former Barcelona and PSG attacker. According to the report, Neymar felt disrespected by the 18-year-old and slapped him on the face. After the training session, he apologised, but the tussle still caused internal trouble.

On Monday, Robinho Jr. sent a letter to Santos in which he claimed that “security at the workplace” was not given, and he is even considering a contract termination. Some Santos players, however, did not like the step and expressed that incidents like these should be solved internally and without further steps. Santos already announced that they will analyse the events and react accordingly. Both players are in the matchday squad for the club’s next game in the Copa Sudamericana against Paraguayan side Deportivo Recoleta.

For Neymar, the incident sheds a bad light on his stay at Santos. The attacking midfielder already faces some criticism after the decision not to play all the games due to load management. His main goal, however, still is to participate in the World Cup, which Brazil national coach Carlo Ancelotti didn’t rule out after being asked in March.

GFN | Tim Bosnjak