Neymar Signs Five-Year Deal with FC Barcelona

Twenty-one year old Brazilian star footballer Neymar da Silva Santos, Jr. has confirmed that he will be signing a five-year deal with Barcelona. The sum is not yet disclosed, but the newspaper, Folha de Sao Paulo wrote that the offer from Barcelona is $36.12 million or 74 million Brazilian Reals. Neymar, who plays forward, is reportedly playing for Barcelona on a salary of €7million per season.

Santos FC is finally freeing Neymar. The club did make the effort to keep him in Brazil for as long as possible. Neymar Senior said that the club that his son has chosen is the one that best suits his style.

Thank you

The young footballer informed his Twitter and Instagram followers the he would be signing the contract on Monday. Neymar thanked Santos FC fans “for nine incredible years” and assured them that his feelings for the club and the fans would never change.

Santos finally let Neymar go after three years of resisting a number of European offers, including one from Chelsea. Santos rejected the offers and worked on improving Neymar’s deal with sponsors. On Friday, the club said that they have agreed to the transfer. On the club’s Facebook page, Santos stated that the club has finally agreed to negotiations after rejecting offers that were being extended to the talented forward since 2010. Spanish champions Barcelona is definitely gaining over arch-rival Real Madrid when the gifted striker chose the former over the latter.

Brazil’s biggest football star

In a total of 256 matches in the past four years, Neymar scored 156 goals and provided 77 assists. He was a key factor in achieving the first Copa Libertadores victory of his team, the first one since Pele’s time in the Sixties. Moreover, Neymar scored 20 times in 32 international appearances with the Brazilian National Team.

The reigning South American Player of the Year

Neymar with the Mohican haircut is South American Player of the Year. Santos FC only has praises for him saying that he scores goals, makes a difference, and has the special ability to turn a game around. Neymar has even received accolades from Pele himself. He has even been called “Pele’s heir” in reference to his set of skills. The native of São Paulo can play equally well at the centre or at the wings. There is no disagreement that he is amongst the most promising football players in the world today.

A victory for Barcelona

Sandro Rosell, the President of FC Barcelona has indeed scored a victory. And now that Neymar da Silva, Pele’s modern successor, is in the team, Barcelona may yet recover from the European Champions League eliminations of the past two seasons.

In the next few days, Neymar will be joining the Catalan club, which is already enjoying the stellar talent and reputation of four-time FIFA World Player of the Year Leo Messi from Argentina, considered in sports circles as the best footballer in the world today.

One of the greatest footballers of all time, Pele has even been heard to comment that fellow Brazilian Neymar, Jr. is even better than Lionel Messi.

Photo Credit: Neymar da Silva Santos, Jr.