UPDATE: 14 June 2011 – NOT CONFIRMED YET BUT GOOD SOURCES CLAIM NEYMAR HAS SIGNED A FIVE YEAR CONTRACT WITH REAL MADRID. A big blow for Chelsea, if this is the case. This should be confirmed shortly.

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior is a striker who plays for Brazilian side Santos and Brazil. Neymar turned 19 years old yesterday but has already been greatly anticipated to be the next big star to hit Europe.
After having made his debut for Santos at age 17, the giants of Europe have lined up to sign him. Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Juventus have all courted him for several months. Perhaps wisely, it was decided for him to stay in South America at least for another season.

In his native Brazil he has been hailed by them all; Pelé, Romário, Zico, Dunga and Menezes, to mention but a few. Neymar has vision, ball control, can dribble and kick the ball with both feet and with great accuracy. Neymar got his debut in the Brazilian national team against USA in August last year and scored in a 2-0 win. When the Brazil U-20 team beat Paraguay 4-2 in the South American Championship last month, Neymar scored all four. Two weeks later he scored on a brilliant free-kick against Chile.

The Brazilian national team have put a lot of effort into a long-term plan for the 2014 World Cup, which they’re hosting. Many of their best young talents are already spread around Europe to gain the right experience to improve the individuals’ games. Some players in England, like Ramires & David Luiz (Chelsea), Anderson & Rafael (Manchester United), Lucas (Liverpool) and Sandro (Tottenham).
In Italy players like Philippe Coutinho (Inter) and Alexandre Pato (AC Milan). Brazil’s captain Robinho also plays for AC Milan and Neymar has often been compared with both Robinho and the great Pelé. Neymar himself argues he is not the new Pelé, rather the only Neymar. Where he will end up after the 2010/11 season is yet to be decided. From Brazil it has been rumoured that he won’t move to a European club until after the 2012 Olympics in London. However the pressure is already on for an earlier move!
UPDATE: On March 27th 2011 Neymar scored both goals as Brazil beat Scotland 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in London.