Neymar MLS Transfer Rumours: Could the Brazilian Star Join FC Cincinnati Before 2026 World Cup

FC Cincinnati has opened exploratory talks designed to lure Neymar to Major League Soccer, a move that would represent one of the most audacious transfers in the league’s history, The Athletic reports. The Ohio club’s behind-the-scenes feasibility study is already under way as executives weigh the football, financial, and cultural implications of adding the 34-year-old Brazilian to a roster that shattered its own spending record this winter with the $16 million capture of Kevin Denkey.

The initiative arrives at a pivotal moment for both player and league. Neymar, who left Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in 2025, rebuffed an approach from the Chicago Fire to rejoin boyhood side Santos on a one-year deal that runs through the 2026 season. Yet with the 2026 World Cup on North American soil, sources close to the forward say he is re-evaluating his environment and sees MLS’s improving standard and marketing reach as an ideal springboard to peak fitness and global visibility.

Cincinnati’s interest is consistent with an aggressive recruitment blueprint that has already placed the club in active discussions with United States internationals Weston McKennie and Josh Sargent. Senior officials believe Neymar’s arrival would accelerate the franchise’s transformation from regional contender to global brand, mirroring the seismic commercial surge that accompanied Lionel Messi’s entry to the league.

Practical hurdles remain. Neymar’s recent omission from Brazil’s March friendly squad has intensified scrutiny on his form and durability, raising questions about whether a move to MLS would enhance or hinder his chances of reclaiming a national-team place. Cincinnati must also reconcile a marquee salary with long-term roster construction, sponsorship activation, and projected upticks in ticket and broadcast revenue.

Still, the mere existence of formal dialogue signals a new frontier for the club and for American soccer. As the World Cup countdown accelerates, the prospect of Neymar plying his trade in the Midwest has shifted from whispered speculation to a legitimate, if complex, negotiation that could reshape the landscape of the sport in the United States.