Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior also known as Neymar Junior OR Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or forward for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A team Santos and the Brazil national team Often praised as one of the best players of all time, he is known for his skills, dribbling, playmaking, and finishing. Neymar is one of the few players to have scored at least 100 goals for three different clubs. He is Brazil's all-time top goalscorer.
Neymar was born in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, to Neymar Santos Sr. and Nadine da Silva and had a Christian upbringing. He inherited his name from his father, who is a former footballer and became his son's advisor as Neymar's talents began to grow. Neymar comments on his father's role: "My father has been by my side since I was little. He takes care of things, my finances and my family." Growing up, Neymar combined his love of futsal with street football. Neymar said that futsal had a massive influence on him growing up, helping him develop his technique, speed of thought and ability to perform moves in tight spaces. In 2003, Neymar moved with his family to São Vicente, where he began playing for youth side Portuguesa Santista. Then, later in 2003, they moved to Santos, where Neymar joined Santos. With the success of his youth career and added income, the family bought their first property, a house next to Vila Belmiro, Santos' home stadium. Their quality of family life improved, as at age 15, Neymar was earning 10,000 reais per month and at 16, 125,000 reais per month. At 17, he signed his first full professional contract, was upgraded to the Santos first team, and began signing his first sponsorship deals.
Neymar made his professional debut with Santos in 2009. In 2011, he helped them win their first Copa Libertadores in nearly 50 years. In 2013, he joined Barcelona and became part of an attacking trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, dubbed MSN. Winning the continental treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League in the trio's first season, Neymar was the joint-top goalscorer of the Champions League campaign and top goalscorer of the Copa del Rey. In his final season, Neymar reached 100 goals for Barcelona and set the record for most assists in a Champions League campaign.Motivated to assume focal responsibility, Neymar joined Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in 2017 for a transfer worth €222 million, making him the most expensive player ever. He largely contributed to PSG's continuation of Ligue 1 title dominance, earning the Player of the Year in his debut season and being named in the Team of the Year three times. In the Champions League, he was integral to PSG reaching its first final in 2020 and established himself as the highest-scoring Brazilian in the competition. Whilst one of the club's highest ever scorers, continuing injuries caused PSG to sell Neymar in 2023 to Al Hilal for €90 million, a Saudi Pro League record transfer. Despite playing a limited number of games due to a year-long ACL injury, he was part of the squad that won the 2023–24 league title. He returned to his boyhood club Santos in January 2025.