(Reuters) – Facts on Brazil’s Neymar, who joined Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal on Tuesday in a deal reported to be worth about 90 million euros ($98.26 million) after six seasons at Paris St Germain.
Full Name: Neymar da Silva Santos Jr
Born: Feb. 5, 1992
EARLY CAREER
* Played for Portuguesa Santista as a young boy.
* Joined Santos youth academy in 2003 and at 14 had a trial with Real Madrid but his father decided against a move to Spain.
SANTOS (2009-2013)
* Signed first professional contract with Santos in 2009 and made his senior debut aged 17 in the Campeonato Paulista. Scored his first senior goal in his third game.
* Made 33 appearances and scored 10 goals in his first league season.
* Scored 42 goals in 60 appearances in all competitions in 2010 as Santos won the Campeonato Paulista and Copa do Brasil.
* Scored six goals in the 2011 Copa Libertadores as Santos won the competition for the first time since 1963.
* In 2011, won the FIFA Puskas award for a goal against Flamengo and was named South American Footballer of the Year.
* Scored his 100th goal in 2012 and won his second South American Footballer of the Year award.
* Played final season at Santos in 2013 before moving to Barcelona in May.
BARCELONA (2013-2107)
* Signed five-year deal with Barcelona for a reported fee of 57 million euros ($62.15 million).
* Made debut in first game of the 2013-14 LaLiga season, scoring his first goal three days later in the Supercopa against Atletico Madrid as Barca won the trophy thanks to his away goal.
* The 2014-15 season saw Neymar win the treble with Barcelona. He scored 39 goals in all competitions, including the Champions League final where they beat Juventus 3-1.
* In his four seasons at the Nou Camp, the Brazilian won two La Liga titles plus the Champions League, three Copa del Rey trophies and the Club World Cup, scoring 105 goals in 186 games.
* In August 2017, Barca announced that Neymar’s legal team had paid them the 222 million euros release clause on his contract as PSG wanted to sign him for a world record fee.
PSG (2017-2023)
* Joined PSG on a five-year deal in August 2017 and scored 28 goals in 30 appearances in all competitions as PSG won three domestic trophies, but he missed the rest of the season after fracturing his right foot in February.
* UEFA banned him for three games for an Instagram post in March 2019 in which he insulted VAR officials for awarding Manchester United a penalty which knocked PSG out of the Champions League.
* Neymar was in trouble again a month later when a video appeared to show him punching a spectator after PSG lost the Coupe de France Final to Rennes.
* The 2019-20 season saw him win his third league title with PSG but they lost the Champions League final to Bayern Munich.
* The following season, Neymar became the fastest in the club’s history to reach 50 league goals (58 games), but PSG finished second in Ligue 1.
* In May 2021 he signed a contract extension until 2025. Scored his 400th career goal in November and won PSG’s 10th league title in 2021-22.
* Won his fifth league title with PSG in 2022-23 but Neymar’s campaign ended prematurely again in March when he underwent surgery on his ankle.
* PSG fans gathered outside his home in May, calling for him to leave the club.
* Neymar scored 118 goals in 173 appearances in all competitions for PSG, winning 13 domestic trophies.
BRAZIL (2010-present)
* Scored on his international debut aged 18 in 2010 in a friendly with the United States; was on the Brazil team which won silver at the 2012 Olympics.
* Won the Confederations Cup in 2013, scoring four goals and winning the player of the tournament award.
* Played at his first World Cup in 2014 when Brazil were hosts. Scored four goals before suffering a fractured vertebra in the quarter-final against Colombia, ruling him out of the tournament.
* Named Brazil captain by then-manager Dunga in 2014.
* Captained his country at the 2016 Olympics, scoring the winning penalty in a shootout as Brazil beat Germany in the final.
* Scored twice at the 2018 World Cup where Brazil went out in the quarter-finals to Belgium.
* Equalled Pele’s scoring record for Brazil with his 77th goal at the 2022 World Cup. Scored in the quarter-final against Croatia but Brazil lost the penalty shootout.
* His 77 goals have come in 124 international games.
($1 = 0.9159 euros)
(Compiled by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Ken Ferris)
