Dob: Feb 5, 1992
Age: Turns 25 today
Club and country: FC Barcelona and Brazil
Weekly wage: $362,000 (Rs 2.4cr approx.)
Current market value: $265m (Rs 1,778cr approx.)
Roll of honour:
2016 Olympic gold medal winner with Brazil
Won the treble with Barcelona in 2015
Received the FIFA Puskas award for the best goal of 2011
What’s he all about?
A special, natural talent and a work in progress
He’s all about natural flair and charisma. Flashy footwork and showboating is in every strand of his DNA, having grown up playing street football in Brazil. He’s no stranger to the spotlight himself, as the top European clubs worked the phone lines to sign him up when he set Brazilian football alight as a 17-year-old with flashy skills and a jazzy blond mohawk. He’s taken the same dazzling form to Europe, but he still needs to step it up by a notch if he has to break theRonaldo-Messi duopoly in world football.
Playing style
Tricks and flicks
Has more tricks up his sleeve than any magician. He can dribble and shoot with both feet. An apparent lack of physical presence forced him out wide, a role which he has flourished in with the extra space. Loves cutting inside the box and curling it into the net.
Endorsements
He earns more off the football field than on it
At 24, Ronaldo’s earning from endorsements was $9 million. Neymar earns $23 million (which is 61 per cent of his total earning) and his ever-growing stature in world football has tipped the figure to climb north in the years to come. Nike, Red Bull, Panasonic, Konami and Gillette are a few of the brands he endorses.
Family is his favourite F-word
His son David Lucca (5), with former girlfriend Carolina, is the star of his Instagram account, closely followed by mother Nadine, who he calls his “queen”. He also shares a special bond with sister Rafaella, and has tattooed her face on his right arm. Rafaella went on to return the favour by getting Neymar’s eyes inked on her left arm! Father Neymar Santos Sr doubles as his agent.
His one-twos with the opposite gender
Carolina Dantas
A medicine student who had a child with Neymar in their teenage years.
Bruna Marquezine
His recurring flame. The model is often pictured shopping and chilling on the beach with the Brazilian wonderboy.
Selena Gomez
The pop star was spotted going out for dinner with Neymar, while she was still dating singer Justin Bieber.
Soraja Vucelic
They met at Ibiza and their ship sailed immediately, before running out of fuel very soon.
Dani Sperle
Dated? Neymar was reportedly married to the model, according to Brazil’s press.
All fun and games aside...
He’s an icon of Brazilian pop music and has made several appearances in music videos in his country. He made his foray into Hollywood with a cameo appearance in xXx: Return of Xander Cage, also starring Vin Diesel and Deepika Padukone.
Controversies
Neymar’s representatives along with the Barcelona officials involved in his transfer from Santos have been accused of conning the third party investors by paying them a much smaller share of the transfer fee, with both parties attempting to downplay the transfer value. The case is still on against Neymar, Neymar Santos Sr, his father and agent, along with Barcelona officials involved in the deal.
Social Media Report
Facebook 59,268,190 Likes
Twitter 27 million followers
Instagram 66 million followers
• Neymar is only behind Ronaldo among footballers in social media standings.
• Neymar’s picture after Brazil won the Olympic Gold in football was the third highest liked picture of an athlete of 2016 on Instagram.
• He added 26 million new followers on social media in 2016.
Compiled by Rwitoban Deb
