A Look At Neymar’s Career: The Prince Who Never Became King
Neymar Jr. is considered as one of the best football players of all time. Some consider him to be the best player of this generation after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Even though in recent years, his career has taken a dip amidst gambling, rape allegations and injury crisis. He remains as one of the most prolific and one of the most decorated footballers of the current generation. Let us take a look at Neymar’s career from his start to where he currently is.
Early Life
Neymar was born on 5th Feburary 1992 in Brazil. He began playing football at a young age under the guidance of his father Neymar Sr. who himself used to be a football player. Neymar started his career by playing street football and indoor five a side or FUTSAL as it is more popularly known. Due to his amazing performances he joined Portuguesa Santista’s youth team where he played until 2003.
Santos FC
Neymar introduced himself to world football due to his fantastic performances at Santos. (Image credits Reddit)
In 2003, Neymar and his family moved to Santos where he joined the youth side of Santos FC. Santos is one the biggest clubs in Brazil and has had several greats of Football wear its shirt which includes the legend Pele. While playing for Santos, Neymar also had a successful trial with European giants Real Madrid at age 14. Neymar finally made his first team debut for Santos in 2009. After joining the senior team, Neymar continued to impress averaging a goal every match. He also helped Santos win the Copa Libertadores. As for personal accolades he won South American Footballer of the Year in both 2011 and 2012. For Santos, Neymar ended up scoring 77 goals and providing 38 assists in a total of 145 matches.
FC Barcelona
Neymar in action for FC Barcelona ( Image Credits: Barca Blaugranes)
In 2013, Neymar made a then world record transfer to FC Barcelona for a sum of 57 Million Euros. He signed a 5 year contract with the Spanish giants. Just after two seasons at FC Barcelona, he helped them win the treble, winning the Copa Del Rey, The La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. Neymar was one of the biggest instruments in the success FC Barcelona garnered from 2013-2017. Neymar was also the key player in the La Remontada in which Barcelona made a comeback against PSG from 4-0 down to 6-1. Neymar scored two goals and provided one assist in that match. Overall in Barcelona, Neymar scored 105 goals and provided 76 assists in 186 games. Neymar longed to get out of teammate Lionel Messi’s shadow and due to this he made a world record transfer of 222 Million Euros to French champions Paris Saint Germain.
Paris Saint Germain
Neymar had a bittersweet career at PSG (Image Credits: Twitter)
The move to PSG made Neymar the highest paid player in the world with him getting an annual salary of 45 Million Euros. Neymar started his first season at PSG up until he injured his right foot and had to be out of action. Neymar stayed in Paris from 2017-2023 but his time was not all rainbows and sunshine. Injuries plagued his PSG career and Neymar had to miss major chunks of the footballing season due to this. Whenever he played, he was absolutely magical and a joy to watch but the injuries took his career downhill very fast. Even after the rampant injuries, Neymar guided PSG to their first Champions League Final, won 5 Ligue 1 titles and several other trophies for the French club. From 2017-2023, Neymar only played 173 games for PSG and scored a whopping 118 goals and provided 77 assists.
Al Hilal
Neymar left PSG after 6 years for Saudi Club Al Hilal (Image Credits: Twitter)
In 2023, Neymar made a move to the Saudi Pro League team Al Hilal for a transfer fee of 90 Million Euros. Reportedly he is also being paid around 150 Million Euros annually that is six times of what he earned at PSG. Neymar made his debut for Al Hilal in September 2023, where in he came off the bench and provided an assist. Neymar scored his first goal for Al Hilal in October. After playing just 5 games for his new club, Neymar got injured again and has since then been out of action.
Brazil National Team
Neymar for Brazil ( Image Credits: Barca Blaugranes)
Neymar made his debut for the Brazil National Team in August 2010. He scored 4 goals for Brazil in the Confederations Cup and helped them win the tournament. He made his World Cup debut in 2014 and scored 4 goals in 5 games before a foul on him left him injured and out of the World Cup. In 2016, Neymar created history by leading Brazil to their first ever Olympic Gold Medal. Neymar became the most fouled player in the 2018 World Cup and only scored two goals before Brazil lost to Belgium and were eliminated. In the 2022 World Cup, Neymar injured his ankle and was out for a few games but returned eventually. He scored a late goal against Croatia in the Quarter Final which was to no avail as Brazil ended up losing the match. In 2023 Neymar became Brazil’s top scorer breaking a record held by the legendary Pele after scoring his 79th goal for his nation.