neymar played for santos before barcelona.
neymar played for santos before barcelona.
which team did neymar play for before barcelona?
santos
in august 2010, brazilian team santos' 18-year-old homegrown striker neymar was the subject of a bid in the region of £25 million from english team chelsea, before he signed a new five-year contract. in june 2011, neymar was again the subject of a high-profile transfer bids: chelsea and real madrid were both reported as preparing offers of €45 million, before neymar eventually turned them down to sign another new contract with santos. in december 2011, ahead of the 2011 fifa club world cup final, it was reported that barcelona had paid santos a €10 million installment for the guaranteed future transfer of neymar at any point until 2014. a similar figure of €14 million was reported in march by spanish radio station cadena ser, which also reported a total transfer fee of €58 million had already been agreed between the two clubs. neymar's father was quoted as saying barcelona was a "great option" for his son. a year later, his father again spoke of a possible transfer for his son, saying he would leave santos after the 2014 fifa world cup, taking place in brazil, and that barcelona was the "best path". the manager of the brazil national team at the time, mano menezes, thought a move to europe before the world cup would be the best way for neymar to develop as a player ahead of the tournament, while neymar himself said, "i'm saying once and for all that i'm not leaving santos right now."
transfer (association football)
due to having the mumps, neymar was expected to miss the 2015 uefa super cup and the 2015 supercopa de españa. on 17 october, neymar scored four goals in barcelona's 5–2 home win over rayo vallecano in la liga, taking his total to eight goals for the season. on 21 november, neymar scored one and provided a back heel assist for andrés iniesta in barcelona's 4–0 away win against real madrid. he scored twice in a 4–0 home win over real sociedad on 28 november, taking his la liga total to 14 goals in 12 games. on 30 november, neymar was shortlisted for the 2015 fifa ballon d'or alongside messi and ronaldo, and subsequently came third. on 22 may 2016, neymar scored a late goal in barcelona's 2–0 extra time win over sevilla in the 2016 copa del rey final at the vicente calderón, as the club celebrated winning the domestic double for the second consecutive season, following their treble victory from the previous season. the front three of messi, suárez and neymar finished the season with 131 goals, breaking the record they had set the previous year for most goals by an attacking trio in a single season.
neymar