Brazilian superstar Neymar has been catching the eye of one and all with his scintillating displays in a Barcelona shirt as the youngster continues to take giant strides into establishing himself at the Camp Nou. Let’s try and decode his life off the circumference of the football pitch and take a sneak peek into some of the most interesting facets about his life.
Here are 12 unknown facts about the latest Barcelona sensation.
1. Neymar’s former employers, Santos, was the only team Neymar had represented before he made the high-profile move to Barcelona. The 22-year old joined the Santos Academy in 2003 and had been there since until Barcelona came calling.
2. Neymar celebrates his birthday on February 5. What is so special about that you ask? Well, it was in 2012 when on the occasion of his 20th birthday, Neymar scored the 100th goal of his professional career against Palmeiras, a trademark Neymar goal.
Not many can claim to have scored on their birthday. Certainly few would have set such an amazing milestone on their birthday. And all this at the tender age of 20! The kid’s got some talent!
3. Brazil has produced some great athletes over the years, but Neymar is the only one to have graced the cover of TIME magazine. The perks of being talented, isn’t it?
4. Here’s one thing in which Neymar beat Lionel Messi by a long way – the Brazilian became a father to little Davvi Luca at just 19. Neymar has refused to reveal the identity of the mother to ‘protect her and the child’.
5. Real Madrid‘s interest in acquiring Neymar’s services have been well documented in recent times – the move fell through in the summer of 2011. But Neymar could have joined the Spanish giants much earlier when he flew to Spain at the age of 14 to complete a move to Real, but Santos paid a hefty price to keep him in his homeland.
6. Neymar could well have been a West Ham if things had fallen into place a few years back. West Ham had made a bid of £12 million for the Brazilian, but Neymar turned them down saying he wasn’t ‘ready’ for the English game!
7. Despite making dramatic headways into the footballing spotlight, Neymar was overlooked by Dunga for the National team squad flying to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, even after Pele and Romario pitched for his inclusion. A petition signed by 14,000 fans also wasn’t of much help as the Barcelona man wasn’t even included in the stand-by list. He eventually got his chance under manager Mano Menezes in August of 2010 in a friendly against the United States. And he grabbed it with both hands, scoring on his debut for Brazil.
8. Neymar may only be 22, and still has a long way to go to reach the heights of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but the Brazilian superstar is already one of the richest blokes in the business. In 2012, Neymar was listed as the 7th richest footballer in the world. And he must be even richer after the big-money move to Barcelona.
9. At 57 million euros, Neymar is only Barcelona’s 9th most expensive purchase – under-the-table money involved you think? Certainly all the controversy regarding Neymar’s transfer had cost Sandro Rosell his post of Barca President. The new management revealed that the deal to bring Neymar to the Camp Nou had cost 86 million euros including 40 million euros paid to a company directly managed by Neymar’s father, Neymar da Silva.
10. Interestingly, Neymar’s ownership rights didn’t belong to Santos alone, but to three separate entities – Santos owned 50 percent of his rights. On 30 November 2010, Santos sold 5 percent shares on future transfer fees received to an investment group, Terceira Estrela Investimentos S.A. (TEISA) while DIS Group, an investment partner of Santos in recent times, bought 40% sporting rights from Neymar’s family way back in 2009.
11. Here are the trophies that the Brazilian has already won at the age of 22 : Best Young Player of Campeonato Paulista (2009), Best Forward of Campeonato Paulista (2010, 2011) Best player of Campeonato Paulista (2010, 2011), Best player of Copa Santander Libertadores (2011), Prêmio Craque do Brasileirão Championship Squad (2010), Arthur Friedenreich Award (2010), Silver Ball (2010) – Best Forward in Brazilian League by magazine Placar, Golden Boot (2010)– Most goals in all competition in Brazil, Copa do Brasil Top scorer (2010), South American Youth Championship Top scorer 2011.
Phew! All this at only 22!
12. Finally, Neymar is already the world’s most marketable athlete, beating the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, ace golfer Rory McIlroy and Usain Bolt to it. And he is just getting started, isn’t he? The sky’s the limit for Neymar!
