Neymar
da Silva Santos Júnior
Brazil
·
Football
Date of birth | 5 February 1992 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo |
Age | 33 |
Nationality | Brazil |
Career start | 2003 |
Disciplines | Soccer |
By the age of 10, Neymar da Silva Santos Jr, better known to the world as Neymar Jr, was already considered a rising star in the football world. Now, in his 30s, he's widely recognised as one of the greatest players of the modern era.
A São Paulo state native, in 2003 Neymar Jr started his career with the São Paulo-based giants of Brazilian football, Santos, and was promoted to the first team in 2009 at just 17. It took him just a week to net his first senior goal with the team and not much longer before he was being compared to Brazilian legends like Robinho and Pelé. Scoring within 28 minutes on his debut for the national team in 2010 did much to cement his place as the next global hero of the Seleção.
It was obvious that it wouldn't be long before one of the giants of Europe came calling for Neymar Jr's signature and, at the age of 21, it was Barcelona who whisked him off to La Liga in 2013. There, he delivered on his promise to become one of the world's greatest players and terrorised La Liga defences as part of the 'MSN' trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez as Barca won back-to-back La Liga and Copa del Rey doubles in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
After netting 105 goals for Barcelona, in August 2017, French football's glamour team Paris Saint-Germain smashed the world transfer record to sign Neymar Jr and he made an immediate impression. In his debut campaign, he helped the French side win a domestic treble and was named the Ligue 1 player of the year, and despite increasing injury problems in the following years played a key role in four more league titles and PSG reaching their first Champions League final in 2019–20.
A short, injury-ruined spell at the Saudi Pro League followed, but in January 2025 Neymar Jr's career came full circle as he moved back home to boyhood club Santos in Brazil's Série A, delighting his legions of fans who saw him light up the club's The Urbano Caldeira first time around.