Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior 

(Brazilian Portuguese: [nejˈmaʁ dɐ ˈsiwvɐ ˈsɐt̃ us ˈʒũɲoʁ]; born 5

February 1992), known as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as
a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil national team. He is widely
regarded as one of the best players in the world.[7][8]
Neymar came into prominence 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; the latter being 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 Barcelona'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
finished 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 to Paris Saint-Germain in a move
worth €222 million, making him the most expensive player ever.[note 1] In France, Neymar won three
league titles, two Coupe de France, and two Coupe de la Ligue, which included a domestic treble
and being voted Ligue 1 Player of the Year in his debut season.[11] Neymar helped PSG attain a
domestic quadruple in the 2019–20 season, and led the club to its first ever Champions League
Final.
With 64 goals in 103 matches for Brazil since debuting at age 18, Neymar is the second highest
goalscorer for his national team, trailing only Pelé. 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, before captaining Brazil to their first Olympic gold medal in men's
football at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Two years later, having renounced the captaincy, he
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 included by Time in its list of the 100
most influential people in the world.[12] By 2018, France Football ranked Neymar the world's third
highest-paid footballer. In 2019, Forbes ranked him the world's third highest-paid athlete,[13] and
fourth highest-paid in 2020.[14]

Contents

 1Early life
 2Club career
o 2.1Santos
 2.1.1Youth
 2.1.22009: Debut season
 2.1.32010: Campeonato Paulista success
 2.1.42011: Puskás Award
 2.1.52012: South America's best player
 2.1.62013: Final season
o 2.2Barcelona
 2.2.1Transfer investigation
 2.2.22013–14: Adapting to Spain
 2.2.32014–15: The treble and individual success
 2.2.42015–16: Domestic double
 2.2.52016–17: Final season
o 2.3Paris Saint-Germain
 2.3.1Contract breach lawsuit
 2.3.22017–18: Debut season and treble
  2.3.32018–19: Injury and league title
 2.3.42019–20: Suspended season, European final
 2.3.52020–21: Controversy, goals, and injuries
 3International career
o 3.12011 South American Youth Championship and Copa América
o 3.22012 Summer Olympics and first hat-trick
o 3.32013 Confederations Cup
o 3.42014 World Cup
o 3.52015 Copa América
o 3.62016 Summer Olympics
o 3.72018 World Cup
o 3.8Lead up to the 2022 World Cup
 4Player profile
o 4.1Style of play and reception
o 4.2Comparisons
 5Outside football
o 5.1Personal life
o 5.2Wealth and sponsorships
o 5.3Media
o 5.4Music
o 5.5Television and films
 6Career statistics
o 6.1Club
o 6.2International
 7Honours
o 7.1Club
o 7.2International
o 7.3Individual
 8See also
 9Notes
 10References
 11External links

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.[15] 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."[16] Growing up, Neymar combined his love of futsal with street football.
[17]
 Neymar said that futsal had a massive influence on him growing up, helping him develop his
technique, speed of thought and ability to perform moves in tight spaces.[18]
In 2003, Neymar moved with his family to São Vicente, where he began playing for youth
side Portuguesa Santista.[19] Then, later in 2003, they moved to Santos, where Neymar
joined Santos FC.[20] With the success of his youth career and added income, the family bought
their first property, a house next to Vila Belmiro, Santos' home stadium. 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.[21]

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.[22] While in the youth academy, Neymar met Paulo Henrique Ganso, becoming
good friends in the process. Aged 14, Neymar travelled to Spain for try outs with the Real
Madrid youth team, at the time when Real had stars like Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, David
Beckham, Roberto Carlos and Robinho. He did not stay in Madrid, however, as his father
decided at the time that he preferred the young prodigy to keep growing up while playing at
Santos.[23][24]
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.[17] 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.[25] In the final, however, Santos suffered a 4–2 aggregate defeat to Corinthians.[26] In his first
season, Neymar racked up 14 goals in 48 games.[17]
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.[27]

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.[28] Following the
2010 Campeonato Paulista in which Neymar scored 14 goals in 19 games,[22] the club were
crowned champions after a 5–5 aggregate win over Santo André in the finals.[29] Neymar was
subsequently given the award for the best player in the competition.[30] Neymar's performances
for Santos have drawn comparisons to other Brazilians, including Robinho and Brazilian legend
Pelé.[31]
In 2010, Santos rejected a £12 million bid for him from English Premier League team West Ham
United,[32] and later an offer from another English club, Chelsea, reported to be in the region of
£20 million.[33] Despite Santos unwillingness to sell and Neymar himself insisting "I'm focused only
on Santos",[34] 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."[33] 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.
[35]

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).[36] 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 st