10 Interesting Facts You Didn’t Know About Neymar

Neymar, whose full name is Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, is a Brazilian football prodigy who has caught the eyes of the world after his high-profile transfer to Barcelona in 2013.  Although the world may know of his talents, there are some facts that not many people know about. In this article, we will try to give an inside track on Neymar to the footballing world. The sky may be the limit for Neymar, but he has already accomplished so much at the ripe age of 22. Here are ten interesting facts about the star who has been named the sixth best player alive by The Guardian.

1. Neymar has only played for Santos before moving to Barcelona

 Although Neymar has displayed his skills at Santos for years now, not many people know that it is the only team he has ever played for. He joined the Santos Academy in 2003 when he was only 11 and perfected his skills there. Perhaps, this explains why everyone was so emotional when Neymar played his last game for the Brazilian club. . 

2. He scored his 100th professional goal on his 20thbirthday 

On 5 February 2012 (the day of Neymar’s 20th birthday), Neymar scored his 100th professional goal against Palmeiras in classic Neymar way. The timing of his goal was just incredible. Not many footballers can boast about scoring on their birthday, let alone setting such a milestone. What’s more impressive about all of this is, Neymar did it all at just 20 years of age. His career is definitely one to keep an eye on!

3. He nearly joined Real Madrid when he was 14 years old


Real Madrid’s interest in acquiring Neymar has been quite famous in recent times, but the deal fell through in the summer of 2011. However, Neymar could have joined the Spanish side way back when he just 14 years old. He even flew to Spain and had passed all the tests, but before the transfer could be completed, Santos paid a hefty amount to keep him in Brazil. . 

4. West Ham is the first club that made a bid on Neymar

Neymar could have been a player for West Ham if things had fallen into place a few years back. In fact, West Ham is the first club that took notice of the Brazilian player’s skills and made a bid of £12 million, which was immediately turned down. However, it was this bid that brought Neymar to an international level as Chelsea then took interest in the player before other clubs started to move to acquire him.

5. He Could Have Played In The 2010 World Cup


Despite his talents, Neymar was not chosen by Dunga to be included in the national team flying to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, even though Pelé and Romário pushed for his inclusion. 14,000 fans also signed a petition for his inclusion, but it wasn’t too effective either since his name wasn’t even on the stand-by list, let alone the roster. However, his time was soon to come. He got his chance under the new manager, Mano Menezes, in August of 2010 in a friendly match against USA. Neymar grabbed the chance with both hands and scored on his debut for Brazil.

6. He became a father at just 19 years of age

There’s one thing Neymar beat Lionel Messi at by a long shot: the Brazilian became father to David Lucca when he was just 19 years old. Neymar did not tell the world who the mother really is to ‘protect her and the child’. . 


7. He is only Barcelona’s ninth-most expensive purchase

This is actually very surprising given all of Neymar’s talent and the hype surrounding him. With all things considered, he actually came pretty cheap for Barcelona. The Brazilian star is the ninth-most expensive purchase for the club at €57 million. This either means that Barcelona has been on an expensive shopping spree for the past few decades or the club pulled off an amazing deal for Neymar. The reality is a mixture of both actually. he is also the 10th in all time most expensive transfer list.

8. He is the only Brazilian athlete to be featured on the cover of TIME magazine

Although Brazil is a country known for its sports legends, Neymar is the only Brazilian athlete to grace the cover of TIME magazine. In fact, the only other Brazilians to be featured on the cover of TIME magazine are politicians. This is truly a remarkable feat for the Brazilian football prodigy. . 


9. He is very young and rich

Neymar just turned 22 this past February, which makes him one of the youngest players to feature in the World Cup this year. The youngest player to ever play in the World Cup was Norman Whiteside at age 17 in 1982, but even then, the chances of him making the same amount of money as Neymar is slim to none. When Neymar transferred to Barcelona, he was made a deal that pays $74 million in five years. In 2012, he was named the seventh-richest footballer in the world, while Forbes names him the third highest-paid athlete under 25 in the world. Currently he is the 6th highest paid soccer player in the world in Forbes list and  also the 6th richest footballer in the world according to the goal.com list. . 

10. He is a marketing machine


In both 2012 and 2013, Neymar was named the most marketable athlete in the world by SportsPro magazine, defeating the likes of Ronaldo, Messi, Rory McIlroy and Usain Bolt. Messi may be the best footballer of all time, but Neymar beats him in this category. Then, as compared to all the other athletic stars in the world, this fact shows how great Neymar really is. In fact, he is so good at selling products that some people have called the barrage of Neymar plastered on magazines, television programs and in ads as “Neymarketing”. He has marketed more than a dozen products and he doesn’t discriminate what products he sell. His pretty face even landed him a cover on the Brazilian edition of the Vogue magazine with Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen. Neymar has taken the world by a storm and has achieved so much in his short career that most footballers could only hope for. And he’s just getting started!

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