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Ask 100 people about Neymar, and you’ll get 100 different opinions. To some, he's a genius with the ball at his feet; to others, he's a showman who divides opinion. This is the story of one of football’s biggest superstars and why he remains one of the most polarizing figures in the game.
When Neymar was coming through as a teenage phenom in Brazil in the early 2010's, it was a 'you had to be there' moment in footballing history.
Coming through at Santos, everyone was watching his highlights, with his unique dribbling ability combined with his flair and skilfulness mesmerising whoever watched, which made him feel well-known, but also somewhat enigmatic
Unlike the talents that move from South America to Europe in recent years, who have moved immediately after turning 18, Neymar was 21 when he made his big money move to Barcelona in 2013, which is why he made an instant impact at the Nou Camp.
At Santos, he had already many honours to his name, including a FIFA Puskas award in 2011, a Copa Libertadores, a Recopa Sudamericana, a Brazilian Cup, A Confederations Cup, all whilst winning Brazilian and South America best player awards, having already scored 136 goals and assisting 64 times in 225 appearances for Santos.
Neymar and Barcelona had a decent first season together, whilst no major trophy wins, Neymar showcased what he is about grabbing 24 goals and assists across La Liga and the Champions League which included a goal and assist in his first El Clasico at the Camp Nou and a hat-trick in the Champions League against Celtic.
After this season, Neymar was the star playing for Brazil going into their home tournament, with a lot of hope riding on his shoulders at such a young age, and with 4 goals heading into the quarter-final against Colombia and an assist early in the game against Colombia, it looked like he would fulfil his destiny.
However, a knee to the back saw him stretchered of the pitch with a fractured vertebra, taking him out of the semi-final against Germany, and we all know how that ended for Brazil.
The 2014-15 season was the most successful of Neymar's career, which saw what was one of the best front three's in football history, with Neymar on the left, Luis Suarez through the middle and Lionel Messi on the right, with the front three earning the highly well-known nickname of MSN.
The front three clicked immediately, with all three contributing massive numbers to Barcelona's success, with Neymar's numbers, despite the inclusion of Suarez to the attack, sky-rocketing, contributing 39 goals and 8 assists to his team's legendary season, with the three's goals totalling up 122 combined across all competitions.
Barcelona secured a historic treble in the 2014-15 season, with Neymar playing an integral part, scoring in both the Champions League and Copa Del Rey finals and ending the season as the joint top-scorer in the Champions League with 10 goals and becoming the first player in history to win and score in the final of both the Copa Libertadores and the UEFA Champions League.
In the next two seasons, Neymar continued his excellence, winning the UEFA Super Cup, two more Copa del Rey's, a FIFA Club World Cup and a La Liga in 2015/16, scoring a total 51 goals and grabbing 37 assists in his final two seasons at Barcelona.
Probably his most influential and memorable performance in his career came in the 2016/17 season, in the second leg of Barcelona's Champions League Round of 16 matchup with PSG, where after being 4-0 down in the first leg, and needing 3 goals in the closing minutes of the game, it needed an all-time effort for Barcelona to comeback.
Up stepped Neymar, who almost single-handedly took control of the game, scoring a magnificent free-kick in the 88th minute, stepping up and taking a penalty in the 91st minute and assisting the winner to Sergi Roberto, completing one of the all-time Champions League victories.
In this period, he also had success in the national team, winning the Olympic Gold Medal in his home Olympics as captain, which to date is his only national success, having picked up an injury before his side's Copa America victory in 2019.
Despite all this success at Barcelona, both individually and in a collective, Neymar was always seen as secondary to Lionel Messi, who was racking up Balon D'ors, and whilst Messi was at Barcelona, Neymar was never going to be seen as the star player and main-man, which was clearly his feelings at the end of the 2016/17 season.
Neymar's decision to leave Barcelona to join PSG in 2017 is widely debated and to many regarded by as one of the worst decisions in football history, especially with the many years the front three could've played together for, but with his desire to lead his own team and forge his own path, Neymar forced his way out of Barcelona and to Paris.
On the 17th August 2017, Neymar was presented as a PSG player at the Parc de Princes after completing, a still world record, £200 million transfer, with his sole goal to be the star player to bring a Champions League to the already league dominant PSG.
As expected, Neymar took Ligue 1 by storm, scoring 19 goals and assisting 13 times in 20 appearances in his first season in the French League, as well as 6 goals and 4 assists in 7 Champions League games, but a season ending foot fracture in February, a sign of things to come, saw his side fall in the Round of 16 stage in the Champions League to Real Madrid.
What became sad in Neymar's time at Paris was how often he wasn't on the pitch, as when he was, he was magic, but missing a total of 136 games during his time at PSG, and mostly at crucial times towards the end of the season, it definitely feels like at 'what-if' if Neymar was able to stay injury-free having never made more than 22 league appearances in a season for the club.
When Neymar was fit, he regularly produced at PSG, scoring 118 goals and assisting 77 times in 173 appearances for the club, but he only made 13 Champions League knockout appearances in six years at the club, which included a run to the final in 2020, ultimately losing to Bayern Munich, which a game, if he had helped win, he would be recognised completely different in the world of football.
Bringing Lionel Messi to the club in 2021, to play alongside Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, it was thought that with their individual abilities, it could compare to that of MSN and finally bring a Champions League to PSG, but that is what it all seemed to be, with the front three never really clicking as a collective.
Despite adding another two Ligue 1 titles with Lionel Messi, to go along with the three he had already collected, it was mutually decided that Neymar and PSG were going to part ways, which fans saw as maybe to see Neymar in the Premier League or back in a Barcelona top, but to many disappointments, Neymar chose a move to Saudi Arabia, transferring to Al Hilali for around £80 million with earning potential of around £120 million a season.
This again sparked debates about the wasted potential in Neymar's career, as his playstyle of flair, tricks with one of the worlds best end-products was one that everyone loved to watch and admired, which is probably why its sparks a lot of debate and strong opinions on the matter.
Neymar's transfer to Al-Hilal was seen as an unnecessary cash-grab, having already made hundreds of millions at PSG, it was maybe finally time to see him back at Barcelona, helping nurture talents such as Pedri, Lamine Yamal and Gavi, but also move to the Premier League and showcase his skills in the world's most watched league.
Neymar's time at Al-Hilal has been a waste of years in his career, suffering an ACL injury just 5 games into his stint in Saudi Arabia and after over a year out, after just two games he picked up another injury which led to manager Jorge Jesus stating: "Neymar can no longer perform at the level we are used to. Things have become difficult for him, unfortunately"
Having not being registered for the AFC Champions League for the second half of the season, it was agreed mutually to cut his contract short, which allowed for Neymar to pick his own path back into football, in which he chose a sensational return back to Santos on a six month contract.
Having gone through all this and reminiscing on Neymar's career, it has reminded me we don't see many Neymar's in football, a player that has all the flair and skills of a street footballer, but also the shooting, passing and end-product and if he came through a generation earlier, he would be remembered as one of the top ten footballers of all time.
Neymar's numbers are outstanding and are on par, if not better, than those considered the best in football history, but in a Messi and Ronaldo era, where the numbers were super-human, Neymar got a little left behind and was always seen as the worlds third best player.
Possibly always being seen as the worlds third best player has made people think Neymar has unfulfilled his potential as he was THE WONDERKID, everyone was told he was going to be the worlds best, but in a world of Messi and Ronaldo, was that ever possible and maybe understating what he did in his career as in any other era he would've been seen as the worlds best.
Put his numbers and accomplishments into perspective, not thinking about what he was meant to be in your eyes, you would see one of the greatest careers in football, scoring 360 club goals in 591 appearances, to go along with 220 assists, whilst winning 9 league titles, 2 continental titles and 6 national cups across three continents, with four different clubs.
Alongside his club success, Neymar has also become Brazil's top goal scorer, with 79 goals in 128 appearances for his national side, overtaking the late, great Pele, and if his form improves and his injuries slow down, he has the opportunity to become Brazil's most capped player, only needing 15 more appearances to earn the honour.
Doing all this with a style that encapsulates 'Jogo Bonito' is special and maybe something that is missing in modern football, which is built around systems and players who always be where managers want them, rather than being able to roam and pick up the ball with confidence and take risks with the ball.
Despite all this success, Neymar will always have the 'What If' title attached to him.
What if he never left Barcelona?
What if he didn't have injuries troubles at PSG?
What if he didn't move to Saudi Arabia?
What if he didn't get injured at the 2014 World Cup?
What if he won the 2020 Champions League?
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