Sports Nicknames - Menino

Neymar da Silva Santos Junior is the world's most expensive footballer. He has also done a pretty large amount of playing to earn that price. The Brazillian was a youth sensation, earning him the nickname "menino" in his home country on account of the interest in him from overseas.



It was at Santos that Neymar first came to the world's attention. He traveled to different European teams like Real Madrid to try out for them, but decided to stay in Brazil for his development. He did just that, helping Santos to 2 Brazilian League titles, a Copa Libertadores and a Copa do Brasil. All of this earned him a move to Barcelona for €86.2 million.

It was at Barcelona that Neymar formed the "MSN" trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. This team won a treble in 2014 and retained La Liga and Copa del Rey the next season. In his final season at the club, Neymar helped win 6-1 against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the Champions League, overturning a 4-0 first leg defeat. He once again won the Copa del Rey.

Neymar then left Barcelona to French giants PSG for a reported €222 million and immediately made an impact. PSG has dominated domestic titles for the last 9 years, only losing once to AS Monaco.

While Brazil has only won the 2013 Confederations Cup in recent times, Neymar has been a crucial part of the line-up since 2011. He has made over 100 appearances and scored over 60 goals for his country since 2010.

Neymar is a player that has a large influence on football. Whether it was his record transfer fee or his frequent appearance in music videos and other media, he certainly isn't making himself forgettable. His goalscoring and flair on the pitch certainly help in that regard too!


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