Santos
Youth
Neymar began playing football at an early age and he was soon spotted by Santos FC who offered
him a contract in 2003, where he was inducted into their youth academy, which has, in the past,
produced Brazilian internationals like Coutinho, Clodoaldo, Diego, Elano and Alex. He also joined
the likes of Pepe, Pelé and Robinho in starting out his career at the club, nicknamed Peixe.[21] While
in the youth academy, Neymar met Paulo Henrique Ganso, becoming good friends in the process.
Aged 14, Neymar travelled to Spain for try outs with the Real Madrid youth team, at the time when
Real had stars like Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos and Robinho. He did
not stay in Madrid, however, as his father decided at the time that he preferred the young prodigy to
keep growing up while playing at Santos. [22][23]
2009: Debut season
Neymar made his professional debut on 7 March 2009, despite being only 17 years old. He was
brought on for the last thirty minutes, in a 2–1 win against Oeste.[16] The following week he scored his
first goal for Santos against Mogi Mirim. One month later, on 11 April, Neymar scored the decisive
goal in a 2–1 win against Palmeiras in the 2009 Campeonato Paulista semi-final first leg.[24] In the
final, however, Santos suffered a 4–2 aggregate defeat to Corinthians.[25] In his first season, Neymar
racked up 14 goals in 48 games.[16]
2010: Campeonato Paulista success
"The 18-year-old is a magnificent prospect. He is sleek and skilful, able to beat the defender on either side, capable of combining
well, and full of tricks he can put to productive use in and around the penalty area."
—South American football journalist Tim Vickery on Neymar in 2010.[26]
Neymar continued his ascendancy in 2010, and, on 15 April 2010, he scored five goals for Santos in
an 8–1 rout of Guarani in the qualifying stages of the Brazilian Cup.[27] Following the 2010
Campeonato Paulista in which Neymar scored 14 goals in 19 games, [21] the club were crowned
champions after a 5–5 aggregate win over Santo André in the finals.[28] Neymar was subsequently
given the award for the best player in the competition. [29] Neymar's performances for Santos have
drawn comparisons to other Brazilians, including Robinho and Brazilian legend Pelé. [30]
In 2010, Santos rejected a £12 million bid for him from English Premier League team West Ham
United,[31] and later an offer from another English club, Chelsea, reported to be in the region of
£20 million.[32] Despite Santos unwillingness to sell and Neymar himself insisting "I'm focused only on
Santos",[33] his agent, Wagner Ribeiro, indicated that Neymar's career was elsewhere, stating "He
wants to become the best player in the world. The chances of him doing that while playing in Brazil
are zero."[32] Although one year later Neymar admitted, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, that
he had been happy with Chelsea's interest in him as it was a "dream" of his "to play in Europe",
while also stating that at the time it had been the right decision to stay in Brazil. [34]
On 30 November 2010, Santos sold a 5% share of future transfer fees that he would receive to an
investment group, Terceira Estrela Investimentos S.A. (TEISA), for R$ 3,549,900 (€1.5 million).
[35]
The previous year, his family had sold a 40% stake in Neymar's sporting rights to the DIS Esporte
group who had been a long-term strategic partner of Santos' football club. [36]
Despite his first two seasons being highly successful, having ended the 2010 season with an
impressive 42 goals in 60 games, problems had been identified, namely Neymar's apparent taste for
diving when tackled, rather than attempting to continue his run, and his attitude. The latter came to
the forefront during a match with Atlético Goianiense, on 15 September 2010, when the Santos'
manager, Dorival Júnior, appointed another player to take the penalty awarded for a foul on Neymar.
His decision was based on the fact that Neymar had missed a crucial penalty during the Copa do
Brasil final of that year, even if Santos went on to win. Reacting to this, Neymar turned his back on
his manager, had to be calmed down by a linesman and argued with his captain, Edu Dracena. The
fallout from this event was that Dorival Júnior wished to have Neymar suspended for two weeks, but
the board sided with the player and promptly sacked the manager. Despite Neymar's apologies over
the incident, some doubts still remain about his attitude. [16] In December 2010, aged just 18, Neymar
came third for the 2010 South American Footballer of the Year, behind Andrés
D'Alessandro and Juan Sebastián Verón.[37]
2011: Puskás Award
