After a sensational move to Barcelona, Neymar is the most hyped soccer player on Earth. But he’s not the best—at least not yet.
With Neymar, you either buy into the hype or you don’t. And there’s plenty of hype. He’s been the biggest thing in Brazil since he was 18, when he scored 42 goals for Sao Paolo–based Santos. At 20, Pele, Brazil’s original soccer god, said he was better than Messi. Now 21, Neymar is surrounded by all the perspective-skewing trappings of fame: the large entourage of assistants; the convoy of vehicles ushering him to his various commitments; the actress girlfriend, Bruna Marquezine, with whom he regularly shares tabloid front pages in Brazil.
Neymar’s enormous stature in a country of nearly 200 million makes him a marketing gold mine. He’s backed by the same agency that handles David Beckham and, according to France Soccer Magazine, is already soccer’s fifth-highest earner. Brand Neymar generates an estimated $27 million a year—more than half from his work off the pitch. Nike, Volkswagen, Drakkar Noir, toy manufacturer Gulliver. He has already graced the cover of Time alongside the headline “The Next Pele.” And while Neymar is currently under the watchful eye of Brazilian super-agent Wagner Ribeiro, who has engineered virtually every big-money move of the country’s rising stars into the European market, rumours circulated this summer that Jay Z’s newly formed agency Roc Nation Sports was courting him.
Money seems to flow around Neymar, including the $74 million Barcelona paid to bring him over from Santos, a club record. To his credit, Neymar has shied away from that valuation. “I don’t think I’m worth [what] Barcelona paid for me. But I’m very honoured and thankful,” he said. He is worth it, of course, in marketing terms. The number of jerseys Barca will sell with his name on the back will repay his transfer and then some. On the field, though, there are question marks for a player who remains unproven at the elite European level. To put it into perspective, Monaco paid $77 million for Colombian Radamel Falcao, who has scored 132 goals for Porto and Atletico Madrid in four seasons of top-level European soccer. Edinson Cavani moved to Paris St. Germain from Napoli for $84 million, but the Uruguayan had 78 goals in three season in Italy. And they are players in their prime, men who can walk onto a team and contribute fully. Neymar’s purchase is, by those standards, calculated speculation on Barcelona’s part.
Those calculations, as always, do their figuring on the pitch, and Neymar has excelled there. He’s fast and he’s tricky, with the vision to create and finish. He registered 24 goals in 39 appearances for Brazil, including his domination of the Confederations Cup—from scoring on his first shot to being awarded player of the tournament. Meanwhile, in four years as a first-team regular for Santos, Neymar scored 138 goals in 229 appearances and collected over 30 individual awards, helping his club to six trophies, including the 2011 Copa Libertadores (South America’s Champions League—the team’s first in 48 years). In 2012, he scored 43 times, earning a second straight South American Footballer of the Year award.
But his success is tempered. Internationally, his experience with Brazil has come overwhelmingly in friendlies. Even the Confederations Cup, while star-studded, is a glorified exhibition, arguably more important as an organizational dry run for the World Cup host than as a soccer tournament. And translating South American club success to La Liga and European glory is especially difficult. The Spanish league is a big step up in quality, a bigger one in toughness. At just five-foot-nine, 140 lb., Neymar must learn to deal with the constant bullying of much more physical defenders. He is, really, a boy amongst the men of one of Europe’s best leagues.
Santos compensated for his slight stature by making him the focal point in attack and giving him the freedom to roam in the offensive zone—almost to a fault. Being indulged offensively stunted Neymar’s defensive game. His willingness to track back and mark his man remains well below the La Liga standard. That won’t fly at Barca. At the Camp Nou he’s just another player fighting for a spot. A good, possibly great one, yes, but his success will depend on being more tactically aware than ever and “releasing the ball much more than he’s used to,” says Fernando Duarte, a Brazil-based soccer correspondent for the UK’s Guardian newspaper.
Barca is as much an on-pitch ideology as a team; an intricate, speedy and ever-flowing system of passing and movement that demands commitment and faith. It’s the kind of system players are moulded into as young boys, and which even established stars struggle with. It demands a degree of selflessness that was far from the hallmark of Neymar’s game at Santos. Simply put, even on a club overflowing with talent, there is no room for individualism.
“The last time Barca had a superstar with an ego on the team—Zlatan Ibrahimovic—there were problems,” says the Associated Press’s chief Spanish sports correspondent, Paul Logothetis. That was the 2009–10 season, when Ibrahimovic found the net 21 times in 46 matches to finish 18 goals shy of Messi’s league-best mark. The Swedish striker chaffed at playing second fiddle, and rebelled against the system before moving to AC Milan.
More recently, Spanish star David Villa was reportedly unhappy with his role. Bought for €40 million three years ago, he couldn’t find a regular starting spot, making 11 substitute appearances in 28 league matches last season and scoring just 10 goals. In the summer, he was sold to Atletico Madrid for €5 million. At Barca, you either accept your role or leave.
So far Neymar has toed the line, saying publicly that he’s not worried about becoming the best in the world because, “That person is already in this club and his name is Messi.” And he appears to be getting the message on the pitch as well. In his 45-minute home debut at the Camp Nou—an 8–0 demolition of Santos in a friendly—he attempted only three dribbles, played six crosses and passed 80 percent of the balls he received. Most intriguing was his attention to detail in the defensive end, reclaiming possession almost a half-dozen times.
And yet, skepticism remains. “This is Messi’s team,” says Logothetis, “but these are two players who want the ball and want the pressure of delivering in those clutch moments. If the Catalans struggle at any point this season, that will be the moment to gauge the truce between the superstars.”
Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino has shown early who he trusts with the ball, treating Neymar more as a budding talent than a great player in full bloom. By the time he made his much-anticipated La Liga debut in the second-half of Barca’s 7–0 dismantling of Levante, the victory was already in the bag. Neymar played 26 minutes, committed two fouls and collected a yellow card; it was a careful introduction, hardly a grand entrance. Even flashes of greatness have not guaranteed playing time. Neymar officially opened his Barcelona account with a dramatic header at the far post away to Atletico Madrid, securing a hard-fought 1–1 draw in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup. The next match he was back on the bench, earning a half-hour substitute appearance in a narrow 1–0 win over Malaga, despite Messi being out injured. The message was clear: Neymar will get no favours and must prove his way onto a team of proven stars.
As much as he’s hungry to get where he feels he should be, so far Neymar seems to understand where he stands. He’s been saying the right things, making the most of his opportunities and keeping his ego in check. His potential, while not yet realized, is unlimited. And he knows it. “He wants the world, that kid,” Duarte says. “Motivation won’t be a problem.”
Next summer, when Neymar returns to Rio and the Maracana for the World Cup, he’ll be welcomed as he left, as a god. He’s got time to live up to that. The question is whether he will.