Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, known as Neymar, plays for Al-Hilal and Brazil and is a superstar of world football.

The Brazilian plays as a left-winger but is versatile enough to fulfil most attacking roles. Having come through the Santos FC ranks, Neymar has been compared to Pele and also Lionel Messi and he remains one of the game's unique talents.

In 2017, Neymar joined for PSG from Barcelona for a world record €222million, but made the switch to Saudi Arabia in August 2023 when he joined Al Hilal in a deal that could rise to €100m (£86.3m).

The Brazilian is known for his dribbling, feints, touch, technique and shooting.

Neymar's long list of silverware includes the Champions League, two La Liga titles and Ligue 1 five times. However, with Brazil he's only managed to claim the Confederations Cup in 2013 and an Olympic gold medal in 2016.

Barcelona years

After starring with Santos in Brazil, Barcelona secured the signature of Neymar in 2013 for €57million on a five-year deal.

Of the deal, Neymar said: "Money is OK but happiness takes priority. We decided to come to Barcelona. I had a lot of offers but I followed my heart."

The move was contentious, forcing Barca president Sandro Rosell to resign amid recriminations that went on for years over Neymar's true transfer fee.

Barca did their best to shield Neymar from the off-field problems. The club bedded him in slowly to life in Spain as Barcelona finished second to Atletico Madrid in his first season in La Liga.

Neymar was unleashed, however, in 2014/15 and struck up a lethal relationship with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. Barca won the treble of La Liga, the Copa Del Rey and the UEFA Champions League.

He scored in Barca's 3-1 victory over Juventus in the Champions League final in June and finished the season with an incredible haul of 39 goals in 51 appearances.

The following season - 2015/16 - Neymar helped Barca to a La Liga-Copa Del Rey double as well as victory in the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan. Neymar scored Barca's extra-time winner against Sevilla in the Copa Del Rey final.

His connection known as 'MSN' with Messi and Suarez produced a record 131 goals for the trio. Neymar singlehandedly bagged 31.

The 2016/17 season proved a relatively quiet final year at Barca for Neymar with the Catalan giants finishing second in La Liga and picking up the Copa Del Rey and Supercopa de Espana.

In 2017, Neymar scored his 100th goal for Barca in just 177 games, reaching the landmark at a quicker rate than even Messi managed.

His performances drew the interest of Paris Saint-Germain and by August 2017 he was plying his trade in France.

Career at Paris Saint-Germain

Neymar joined Paris Saint-Germain in August 2017 from fellow super-club Barcelona for €222million, breaking the world record transfer fee in the process.

Neymar won the French treble in his debut season for PSG, forming a formidable trio with Edinson Cavani and teenage prodigy Kylian Mbappe. He scored on his debut in a 3-0 win over EA Guingamp on his way to 28 goals in 30 appearances that campaign.

In 2018/19 Neymar hit the ground running again, scoring PSG's opening goal of the new season in a 3-0 win over Caen.

Never too far from controversy, Neymar was banned for three matches in April 2019 for insulting match officials on social media after Manchester United beat PSG in the Champions League.

He was later caught on camera appearing to strike a fan after PSG lost to Rennes in the Coupe De France final. He still finished the season with 23 goals in 28 games, including 13 assists.

In 2019/20, Neymar bounced back from an early season disciplinary action, for missing the first day of training, by winning another treble with PSG. The Paris club reached their first Champions League final but Neymar's side were defeated 1-0 by Bayern Munich.

Neymar missed the first game of the 2020/21 season after testing positive for Covid-19. He became the fastest player to hit 50 PSG goals in Ligue 1 in his 58th match for the club, but PSG missed out on the league title by one point to Lille.

He scored his 400th career goal in the November of the 2021/22 season and his 100th PSG goal the following May. This time French giants did win the Ligue 1 title.

He was part of the PSG squad that retained the league title in the 2022/23 season, playing 29 games and scoring 18 goals across all competitions, in a season that was cut short by an ankle injury.

Neymar scored and assisted in his final game for the club in February, and eventually left the Parc Des Princes having scored 118 goals in 173 matches and winning five Ligue 1 titles.

He was left out of PSG manager Luis Enrique's squad for the opening league game of the 2023/24 season and did not feature in the Spaniard's plans.

Moving to Saudi Arabia

On August 15, 2023, Neymar completed his transfer to Al Hilal in a deal that could go up to €100m (£86.3m).

The Brazil forward joined the list of stars of world football to turn his back on a major European club, following the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Riyad Mahrez, Ruben Neves, Sadio Mane and N'Golo Kante to the Middle East.

PSG chief executive Nasser Al-Khelaifi told the club's official website: "It is always difficult to say goodbye to an amazing player like Neymar, one of the best players in the world

"I will never forget the day he arrived at Paris St Germain, and what he has contributed to our club and our project over the last six years. We had a great moment and Neymar will always be a big part of our history.

"I would like to thank Neymar and his family. We wish Neymar all the very best for the future and his next adventure."

Neymar joined former Wolves captain Neves and ex-Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly at Al Hilal.

Boy from Brazil

Neymar set the Brazilian football world alight in his ten-year spell with Santos, winning South American Footballer of the Year on two occasions.

He was the superstar that the latest generation of the Selecao needed and scored on his full Brazil debut, aged 18, against the USA in 2010.

A key player for Brazil at the 2012 London Olympics, Neymar scored some crucial goals as they reached the final against Mexico.

Neymar scored in the group stages against Belarus and in the quarter-finals in the win over Honduras. Brazil lost out 2-1 to Mexico in the final.

Neymar scored his first hat-trick for Brazil in an 8-0 friendly rout of China in September 2012.

In 2013, Brazil enjoyed a seamless preparation for the 2014 World Cup on home soil with victory in the Confederations Cup. He collected the Golden Ball for player of the tournament.

What should have been a wonderful World Cup 2014 in Brazil ended in agony for Neymar as he had to withdraw with a broken vertebrae in his back during the quarter-final win over Colombia.

It was a cruel end to a home World Cup for Neymar with Brazil getting hammered 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals. Neymar had scored four goals before getting injured.

There was some comfort back on home soil at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Brazil.

The host side emerged victorious in the gold medal game with Neymar notching the opening goal in the 1-1 draw with Germany and also scoring the winning spot-kick in the subsequent penalty shootout.

Despite a decent World Cup 2018 in Russia for Neymar, with goals against Costa Rica and Mexico, there was disappointment for Brazil as they were eliminated by Belgium in the quarter-finals.

In October 2020, Neymar became Brazil's second highest scorer of all time after Pele by registering a hat-trick against Peru in a World Cup qualifier. Neymar had scored 64 goals in 103 games for Brazil.

At the 2022 World Cup, Neymar notched his 77th international goal to move alongside Pele as Brazil's record scorer - but it was not enough to beat Croatia in the World Cup quarter-final.

The 30-year-old drew level with Brazil great Pele with his extra-time opener against Croatia only for Bruno Petkovic to force a shootout with his goal before the 2018 finalists won through on penalties.

The goal against Croatia was Neymar's second of the tournament and his eighth at a World Cup, spread across three editions.

He scored four on home soil in 2014 - two each against Croatia and Cameroon - and two in 2018 against Costa Rica and Mexico.

A further 14 of his goals have come in qualifiers for the global showpiece, with five at the Copa America and four in the 2013 Confederations Cup including in the final against Spain.

The remaining 76 have come in friendlies, in which he has made 70 of his 124 international appearances.

He has four hat-tricks to his name, two of them coming in 2014 against South Africa and a four-goal haul against Japan. His other trebles came against China in 2012 and Peru in 2020, the latter in the qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup.

Personal life

Neymar has a son named Davi Lucca, born in 2011, with former girlfriend Carolina Dantas.

Natalia Barulich, the American model is reported to be Neymar's girlfriend.

He told Life Beyond Sport that away from soccer his hobbies are "being with my family and friends, doing barbecues, playing video-games, playing cards, go-kart racing."

Neymar is a Pentecostal Christian and sometimes is seen with a headband reading "100% Jesus"

Alongside Brazilian player Nene, Neymar has played in an annual charity match to raise money for the needy in their home country.

Music is a big passion of Neymar and he also likes to dance. He told Life Beyond Sport that the music he likes to listen to in his down time includes "samba, pagode, country music, gospel, funk and international music".

Net worth

Neymar is believed to be on £138million-a-year at Al Hilal, and his net worth is around £195m.

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