Two years and 25.4 billion yen! Neymar’s “divine response” to fans and his friendship with Roland Roland

On August 14, France’s L’Equipe reported that Neymar, 31, of French first division soccer champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), and Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia have reached a transfer agreement. Neymar is expected to receive a total of approximately 160 million euros (about 25.4 billion yen).

Neymar, who was in Japan just a few days ago for a Japan tour, visited a Japanese beef restaurant in Akasaka, Tokyo, on July 31. When he came out of the restaurant after eating, he was surrounded by waiting fans, but he showed a “divine response” by smiling and taking a commemorative photo.

The restaurant is a members-only wagyu restaurant produced by Takafumi Horie (50), a.k.a. Holliemon. The restaurant is a sponsor of Paris Saint-Germain’s tour of Japan, and it seems that this was the reason for his visit.

It seems that Hollimon and Neymar were connected in an unexpected way, but speaking of unexpected, there is another person. It is Roland Roland, 31, a businessman and the king of the host world.

On July 28, PSG played a friendly against Cerezo Osaka. Neymar had played zero minutes in the two games so far. Neymar had played no minutes in his previous two matches, and he did not play in the match this day either. Even so, instead of being booed by the crowd, Neymar received a storm of cheers and flashes just by showing up. Another player who received cheers was Roland.

Before the game, Roland appeared on the pitch, waving to the cheering fans, making hearts, and responding to requests for photos.

He is currently the PR ambassador for Cerezo Osaka, and after the game he was assigned to be the interviewer. He is also known to be personally close to Neymar. He revealed on Instagram that Neymar visited his office after the Kirin Challenge Cup 2022 match between Japan and Brazil last June, and posted a video of the visit the following month as well.

Roland remained standing at ground level until the end of the match, watching the game with a serious look on his face. It is unclear if the two met again after this match, but after Neymar enjoyed Hollimon-produced Japanese beef on the 31st, he went to Kabukicho and visited “THE CLUB,” a host club run by Roland, as previously reported by “FRIDAY Digital” (August 5, ’23). As reported in “FRIDAY Digital” (August 5, 2011), he visited “THE CLUB,” a host club owned by Roland.

Neymar missed all the games due to the right ankle surgery he had in March, but he was in a good mood throughout his visit to Japan, not only because of the hospitality of Hollimon and Roland, but also perhaps because he was expected to earn more than double the salary of PSG with this transfer.

PSG was keen from the start on being able to sell an out-of-concept player for a high price, but Neymar has declared that he has no intention of ending his career at the front line and that he intends to return to Europe in a year or two for the ’26 North and Central American World Cup. (Reporter for a soccer magazine)

It would be great to see the superstar in action on the pitch.