Neymar facts – 7 things you might not know about the Man Utd target!
With Barcelona striker Neymar being strongly linked as a top transfer target for Manchester United, here’s a look at seven awesome facts about the world class Brazilian…
1) Santos debut at just 17
A prodigy from a very young age, Neymar made his debut for Brazilian club Santos, where the legendary Pele also stared his career, at the age of just 17, and quickly became a first-team regular. A year after his first appearance, the young striker was named the Brazilian league’s player of the year.
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2) Amazing Brazil career
Things took off for Neymar from there, as he made his full debut for the senior Brazilian national team at the age of just 18. Again, he slotted in seamlessly despite being one of the team’s youngest players, and has enjoyed incredible success. Despite only being 23, Neymar is his country’s fifth highest scorer ever with 44 goals in 63 games, and he was recently named captain of the national side as well.
3) He trained with Real Madrid!
Now a star at Barcelona, Neymar could have ended up at bitter rivals Real Madrid if things had gone a little differently, with the player even training alongside the likes of Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham when he was just 14 years old.
4) Chelsea and West Ham tried to sign him
Shortly after making a breakthrough for Santos, West Ham and Chelsea were both reported to have failed with bids for Neymar, and the player himself was tempted by the offers as he dreamt of a big move to Europe, though he concedes it was the right decision at the time to stay in Brazil to continue his development.
5) Off the pitch
Named in 2013 as the most marketable footballer in the world, Neymar has many off the field projects, such as modelling and playing poker. The forward is also one of the richest footballers on the planet already.
6) He has more goals than Messi did at his age
With 190 goals in his club career already, Neymar actually has more goals to his name than team-mate Lionel Messi did at the same age. When the Argentine turned 23, he’d managed just 127 goals for the senior Barcelona team, 63 fewer than his Brazilian colleague.
7) World Cup success
With huge pressure to perform at last summer’s World Cup, it’s fair to say Neymar did not disappoint. The young attacker scored four goals in total, and also netted the winning penalty in a shoot-out with Chile, making it into the World Cup All Star XI at the end of the tournament despite the rest of the Brazil team generally fairing poorly.