Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (Brazilian Portuguese: [nejˈmaʁ dɐ ˈsiwvɐ ˈsɐt̃ us ˈʒũɲoʁ]; born 5

February 1992), commonly known as Neymar Jr. or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional
footballer who plays as a forward for French club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil national
team.

Neymar came into prominence at an early age at Santos, where he made his professional debut
aged 17. He helped the club win two successive Campeonato Paulista championships, a Copa do
Brasil, and the 2011 Copa Libertadores, with the latter Santos' first since 1963. Neymar was
twice named the South American Footballer of the Year, in 2011 and 2012, and soon relocated to
Europe to join Barcelona. As part of Barça's attacking trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, he
won the continental treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League, and
came third for the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2015 for his performances. He then attained a domestic
double in the 2015–16 season. In 2017, Neymar transferred from Barcelona to Paris Saint-
Germain in a move worth €222 million, making him the most expensive player ever.[note 1] In
France, he won two league titles, a Coupe de France, and a Coupe de la Ligue, which included a
domestic treble and being voted Ligue 1 Player of the Year, in his debut season.[8] Neymar's
second season with PSG was heavily injury-riddled and marked by controversies.[9][10]

With 61 goals in 101 matches for Brazil since debuting at age 18, Neymar is the third highest
goalscorer for his national team, trailing only Pelé and Ronaldo. He was a key player in Brazil's
victories at the 2011 South American Youth Championship, where he finished as leading
goalscorer, and the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, where he won the Golden Ball as player of
the tournament. His participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2015 Copa América was cut
short by injury and a suspension, respectively, but, the following year, he captained Brazil to
their first Olympic gold medal in men's football at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and two years
later, featured at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Off the pitch, Neymar ranks among the world's most prominent sportsmen; SportsPro named
him the most marketable athlete in the world in 2012 and 2013, and ESPN cited him as the
world's fourth-most famous athlete in 2016. In 2017, Neymar was listed by Time to be one of the
most influential people in the world,[11] and in 2019, Forbes ranked him the world's third highest-
paid athlete (after Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo).[12]

Early life
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior was born in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, to Neymar Santos Sr.
and Nadine da Silva. He inherited his name from his father, who is a former footballer and
became his son's advisor as Neymar's talents began to grow.[13] Neymar comments on his father's
role: "My father has been by my side since I was little. He takes care of things, my finances and
my family."[14] Growing up, Neymar combined his love of futsal with street football.[15]

In 2003, Neymar moved with his family to São Vicente, where he began playing for youth side
Portuguesa Santista.[16] Then, later in 2003, they moved to Santos, where Neymar joined Santos
FC.[17] With the success of his youth career and added income, the family bought their first
property, a house next to the Vila Belmiro. Their quality of family life improved, as at age 15,
Neymar was earning 10,000 reais per month and at 16, 125,000 reais per month. At 17, he signed
his first full professional contract, was upgraded to the Santos first team, and began signing his
first sponsorship deals.[18]

Club career
Santos

Youth

Neymar began playing football at an early age and he was soon spotted by Santos FC who
offered him a contract in 2003, where he was inducted into their youth academy, which has, in
the past, produced Brazilian internationals like Coutinho, Clodoaldo, Diego, Elano and Alex. He
also joined the likes of Pepe, Pelé and Robinho in starting out his career at the club, nicknamed
Peixe.[19] While in the youth academy, Neymar met Paulo Henrique Ganso, becoming good
friends in the process. Aged 14, Neymar travelled to Spain to join the Real Madrid youth team, at
the time when Real had stars like Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos
and Robinho.[20]

2009: Debut season

Neymar made his professional debut on 7 March 2009, despite being only 17 years old; he was
brought on for the last thirty minutes, in a 2–1 win against Oeste.[15] The following week he
scored his first goal for Santos against Mogi Mirim. One month later, on 11 April, Neymar
scored the decisive goal in a 2–1 win against Palmeiras in the 2009 Campeonato Paulista semi-
final first leg.[21] In the final, however, Santos suffered a 4–2 aggregate defeat to the
Corinthians.[22] In his first season, Neymar racked up 14 goals in 48 games.[15]

2010: Campeonato Paulista success

"The 18-year-old is a magnificent prospect. He is sleek and skilful, able to beat the defender on
either side, capable of combining well, and full of tricks he can put to productive use in and
around the penalty area."

—South American football journalist Tim Vickery on Neymar in 2010.[23]

Neymar continued his ascendancy in 2010, and, on 15 April 2010, he scored five goals for
Santos in an 8–1 rout of Guarani in the qualifying stages of the Brazilian Cup.[24] Following the
2010 Campeonato Paulista in which Neymar scored 14 goals in 19 games,[19] the club were
crowned champions after a 5–5 aggregate win over Santo André in the finals.[25] Neymar was
subsequently given the award for the best player in the competition.[26] Neymar's performances
for Santos have drawn comparisons to other Brazilians, including Robinho and Brazilian legend
Pelé.[27]

In 2010, Santos rejected a £12 million bid for him from English Premier League team West Ham
United,[28] and later an offer from another English club, Chelsea, reported to be in the region of
£20 million.[29] Despite Santos unwillingness to sell and Neymar himself insisting "I'm focused
only on Santos",[30] his agent, Wagner Ribeiro, indicated that Neymar's career was elsewhere,
stating "He wants to become the best player in the world. The chances of him doing that while
playing in Brazil are zero."[29] Although one year later Neymar admitted, in an interview with the
Daily Telegraph, that he had been happy with Chelsea's interest in him as it was a "dream" of his
"to play in Europe", while also stating that at the time it had been the right decision to stay in
Brazil.[31]

On 30 November 2010, Santos sold a 5% share of future transfer fees that he would receive to an
investment group, Terceira Estrela Investimentos S.A. (TEISA), for R$ 3,549,900
(€1.5 million).[32] The previous year, his family had sold a 40% stake in Neymar's sporting rights
to the DIS Esporte group who had been a long-term strategic partner of Santos' football club.[33]

Despite his first two seasons being highly successful, having ended the 2010 season with an
impressive 42 goals in 60 games, problems had been identified, namely Neymar's apparent taste
for diving when tackled, rather than attempting to continue his run, and his attitude. The latter
came to the forefront during a match with Atlético Goianiense, on 15 September 2010, when the
Santos' manager, Dorival Júnior, appointed another player to take the penalty awarded for a foul
on Neymar. His decision was based on the fact that Neymar had missed a crucial penalty during
the Copa do Brasil final of that year, even if Santos went on to win. Reacting to this, Neymar
turned his back on his manager, had to be calmed down by a linesman and argued with his
captain, Edu Dracena. The fallout from this event was that Dorival Júnior wished to have
Neymar suspended for two weeks, but the board sided with the player and promptly sacked the
manager. Despite Neymar's apologies over the incident, some doubts still remain about his
attitude.[15] In December 2010, aged just 18, Neymar came third for the 2010 South American
Footballer of the Year, behind Andrés D'Alessandro and Juan Sebastián Verón.[34]

2011: Puskás Award

Neymar playing for Santos against Barcelona in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup Final in
Yokohama, Japan

Neymar scored six goals during Santos run to the 2011 Copa Libertadores Finals, tying him for
third top goalscorer,[35] including the clinching goal of Santos' 4–3 aggregate win over Cerro
Porteño in the semi-finals.[36] In the two-legged final, Santos faced Uruguayan side Peñarol and
drew the first leg 0–0 in Montevideo.[37] At home in the second leg, Neymar opened the scoring
in the 46th minute as Santos held on for a 2–1 win and Neymar won Man of the Match
honours.[38][39] The win brought Santos their first Copa Libertadores triumph since 1963, when
Brazilian legend Pelé was playing for the club.[40][41]

In September 2011, Santos club president Luís Ribeiro threatened to report Real Madrid to FIFA
following reports that they had attempted to sign Neymar to a pre-contract agreement, and
denied that such an agreement was in place.[42] On 9 November 2011, Neymar and Santos agreed
to a contract extension that would see the player stay with the club until after the 2014 World
Cup in Brazil. The deal reportedly increased Neymar's wages by 50%, to the levels that top
European clubs would be paying him.[43] On 14 December 2011, Neymar scored the opening
goal for Santos as they defeated Kashiwa Reysol 3–1 in the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World
Cup at the Toyota Stadium in Toyota, Japan, but failed to score against Barcelona in the final on
18 December 2011, where Santos were defeated 4–0, finishing as runners-up in the
competition.[44] He won the 2011 FIFA Puskás Award for scoring a solo goal in the Brasileirão
Série A against Flamengo, in a 5–4 loss. On 31 December 2011, he won the 2011 South
American Footballer of the Year award for the first time, by a record margin, following in the
footsteps of Diego Maradona, Romário, Pelé and Zico.[45]

2012: South America's best player

On 5 February 2012, when he turned 20, Neymar scored his 100th goal as a professional football
player, against Palmeiras in the Campeonato Paulista.[46][47] On 25 February 2012 – he scored
two goals, one of which was from 25-yards – and created two assists to help his side to a 6–1 win
over Ponte Preta.[48] On 7 March 2012, Neymar netted a hat-trick as Santos saw off Brazilian
rivals Internacional 3–1 in the Copa Libertadores Group stage match.[49] On 29 March, he scored
a brace against Guaratinguetá in a 5–0 victory.[50] In the fixture against São Paulo on 29 April
2012, Neymar scored a hat-trick with the match ending 3–1.[51] Thereafter, he went on to score
twice in the first[52] and second legs[53] in the 2012 Campeonato Paulista Finals against Guarani,
which ended 7–2 on aggregate. Neymar finished the 2012 Campeonato Paulista with 20 goals
and was voted the Best player and Best Forward, and Santos were crowned champions. He was
joint top scorer in the Copa Libertadores with eight goals, after Santos were beaten over two legs
by eventual champions Corinthians in the semi-finals.

On 25 August 2012, he scored a brace in the 2–1 away win at Palmeiras.[54] On 3 November
2012, in the Brasileiro Série A away fixture at Cruzeiro, Neymar scored a hat-trick and assisted
Felipe Anderson's goal, to help his side to a 4–0 win.[55] Neymar finished off the 2012 season in
style, first setting-up Victor Andrade's equaliser, then scoring twice, to give Santos a 3–1 home
win over Palmeiras on 1 December 2012.[56] Neymar was voted the Best Player of the 2012
Recopa Sudamericana, Neymar scoring in the second leg to win the title 2–0 on aggregate. He
finished the 2012 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A with 14 goals and being voted the Best
forward. Neymar finished the 2012 season, being award the Golden Ball, Arthur Friedenreich
Award and Armando Nogueira Trophy. He was one of three finalists in the 2012 FIFA Puskás
Award and finished runners-up behind Miroslav Stoch. He won the 2012 South American
Footballer of the Year, retaining his award and winning it ahead of the likes of Ronaldinho.
Reports emerged in 2011 that Santos reached an agreement with Barcelona to sign him at a later
stage. Neymar, however, rejected this in an interview, saying that he had "no agreement with
Barcelona or anyone else".[57]

2013: Final season

Neymar started the 2013 Campeonato Paulista scoring twice in the first match, which ended a 3–
1 win over São Bernardo on 19 January 2013.[58] Four days later on 23 January 2013, Neymar
scored again against Botafogo in a 3–0 win.[59] On 3 February 2013, in the Paulista fixture
against São Paulo, where Santos won 3–1, with Neymar scoring and making two assists.[60] on 18
March 2013, Neymar told that he had a "dream of playing in Europe, for a big club like
Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea." But he went on to say, "There's no point in speculating
when I'll leave Santos. I'll leave when I want to."[61]

Neymar scored all four goals, had another disallowed and hit the post as Santos beat União
Barbarense 4–0 in the Paulista on 13 April.[62] On 25 April 2013, his agent and father revealed
that Neymar intended to leave for Europe before the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[63] Ahead of his last
match for Santos, on 26 May against Flamengo, Neymar was in tears during the national
anthem.[64]

Barcelona

See also: Transfer (association football) § 2013: Transfer of Neymar from Santos to Barcelona

Neymar during his unveiling at Barcelona in June 2013.

On 24 May 2013, Santos announced that they had received two offers for Neymar. The
following day, Neymar announced he would sign with Barcelona on 27 May 2013 and join the
team after playing in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. Neither Neymar nor the clubs released
details on the transfer fee or personal terms, save to say he signed a five-year deal.[65] On 3 June
2013, Neymar was unveiled by Barcelona after passing medical tests and signing a contract that
would keep him at the club through June 2018.[66]
Neymar was presented at the Camp Nou in front of 56,500 fans, a record turnout for a Brazilian
player.[67] Club vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu initially said Neymar's transfer fee was
€57.1 million and his release clause set at €190 million.[68][69] Barcelona's doctor suggested he
might need to gain weight to be able to cope physically in Spanish football.[70]

Transfer investigation

In January 2014, the prosecutor's office in Madrid began investigating the transfer fee that
Barcelona paid for Neymar.[71] The documents submitted to the authorities on request contained
contradictory information.[71] On 23 January 2014, Rosell resigned from his position as
president.[72] A day later, the details of the transfer were revealed by Barcelona; the transfer had
in fact cost them €86.2 million (£71.5 million),[73][74][75] with Neymar's parents confirmed to have
received a €40 million sum.[76][77] In the aftermath, Barcelona and Bartomeu were charged with
tax fraud.[78]

2013–14: Adapting to Spain

On 30 July 2013, Barcelona drew 2–2 against Lechia Gdańsk in a pre-season friendly; Neymar
made his unofficial debut when he came on as a substitute.[79] He scored his first goal for the
club in a 7–1 win against a Thailand XI on 7 August.[80]

Neymar made his competitive debut for Barcelona during the opening game of the 2013–14 La
Liga season as a 63rd-minute substitute for Alexis Sánchez in a 7–0 win against Levante.[81] On
21 August, he scored his first competitive goal for the club in the first leg of the 2013 Supercopa
de España against Atlético Madrid: seven minutes after coming on as a substitute for Pedro, he
headed Dani Alves' cross to equalise in a 1–1 draw at the Vicente Calderón Stadium as
Barcelona won on the away goals rule for his first trophy at the club.[82] On 18 September, he
made his UEFA Champions League debut, assisting a Gerard Piqué goal as Barça beat Ajax 4–0
in their opening match of the 2013–14 tournament.

Six days later, Neymar scored his first goal in La Liga in Barcelona's 4–1 defeat of Real
Sociedad at Camp Nou.[83] On 26 October, he made his first El Clásico appearance, scoring the
opening goal and assisting the team's winning goal scored by Alexis Sánchez as Barcelona beat
Real Madrid 2–1 at Camp Nou.[84][84] On 11 December, Neymar recorded his first three
Champions League goals as he scored a hat-trick in a 6–1 win over Celtic in Barcelona's final
Group H match.[85]