Each week, we shall be looking into one of the greatest footballers in modern football and the impact they can potentially make when the World Cup commences in June.

Neymar

Up until recently, the Selecao always had their main star players in the squad to depend on. In the 90s and early noughties it was Ronaldo, whereas during the mid 2000s Ronaldinho and Kaka were perceived as the nation’s heroes. Since then however, no other player has lived up to that kind of billing. No other player until Neymar, that is.

Neymar was already regarded as a sensation before winning the Golden Ball at the 2013 Confederations Cup. He has, until now, scored 30 goals for his country out of 47 appearances whilst also being ranked as the sixth best footballer in the world by The Guardian. During the summer of 2013, the player was purchased outright by European heavyweights Barcelona, although controversy regarding said transfer has already arisen.

The transfer fee which Barcelona paid for the player was being investigated by the prosecutor’s office in Madrid, where it was claimed that documentation regarding the transfer included contradictory information. Although the initial transfer amount declared to the public was at €57 million, the investigation revealed that the actual amount which Barcelona paid for Neymar was €97 million, where €40 million of those were ‘supposedly…flowed to a company which is close to Neymar family’. Then club president Sandro Rosell proceeded to resign from his post due to transfer embezzlement allegations.

Although the controversy did dampen the player’s start to his Barcelona career, his performances could prove otherwise as he has already scored 7 goals in 19 appearances, which is considerably good considering that the world’s best player is also found in the same club. Described as a ‘true phenomenon’ by several pundits, make sure to watch Neymar in action this summer so as not to miss out on any mouth-watering action which the player is certain to deliver.