Neymar is reaching his peak. After maintaining a very high level during his career, last season and the start of this season allows us to see the best of 10 since its inception. At 28 years old, the one from Mogi das Cruzes can no longer be described within the 'extreme' concept. He has broken the corset. The term 'attacker' may do him more justice because today on the green he looks more like his friend Messi than the young Santos winger who wore a very long Mohawk crest. In this break he once again demonstrated his good goalscoring skill with Brazil, which has him on the hunt for Pelé. A skill that, in addition to creating the game from the middle, is also showing at PSG.
In Paris, Ney has been unleashed as a total attacker and even as a remarkable game generator. He gets farther back, helps out, and is capable of unbalancing in infinite ways. His dribbling ability is intact and his appearance as 10 attracts even more pressure by releasing teammates (it is worth mentioning that Champions League match against Atalanta as the maximum exponent of this change) and since his arrival in the French capital, has assumed the role of first offensive sword, taking out its highest scoring version.
Despite the fact that injuries weighed down on him in the first two seasons, forcing him to see the most decisive stretch of the season from the outside (In the first, from February to May, in the second, from January to April and in both he could not be in the decisive Champions League matches), Neymar has had time to raise his scoring records to the level of a born striker when he was never quite his thing.
In Santos, still in training, he closed his stage with 70 goals in 135 games. A lower average than in subsequent destinations and, even so, he managed to get a trophy for the top scorer of the Libertadores in 12/11 (8 goals) although the one that won was the previous edition as well as a Liga and a Recopa Sudamericana. In Brazil, he dominated as a pure wing player who sought to face within and dominate through dribbling and blazing speed.
In Barcelona, he became the perfect complement to the top scorer and the third highest scoring player in the club's history. Almost nothing. Against Messi in his most scoring version and Suárez lethal, Neymar appeared as the third offensive option in front of goal. Although he never reached a season at the levels of the Argentine and the Uruguayan added a remarkable mark of 105 goals in 186 games. His scoring average did not improve much compared to Santos, but the number of goals generated per game if the assists he contributed to the rest of his teammates are added (76). That is to say, an average of 0.97 goals contributed per game in Barcelona either with goal or assistance. A real outrage that earned him countless titles with his two friends.
But he wanted to fly alone and time is giving him, in part, the reason. CWith PSG 10 behind him, he has had Mbappé as his main partner but he has been the great reference. The Frenchman had a season that touched the Golden Boot but the scoring responsibility with Neymar is more distributed than it seems. In the capital, his version of matador has been unleashed with a total of 72 goals in 88 games. A ratio of 0.81 points per game. If the average of goals generated is also calculated, His data is also unleashed in relation to his time in Barcelona, going from the remarkable 0.97 to contributing more than one goal per game either with as much or assistance with an average of 1.29. The best Neymar shines in the City of Light.
Neymar's performance in his clubs and national team
| Team | Matches | Goals | Assists | Goalscorer average (in goals per game) | Avg. Goals generated |
| Saints | 134 | 70 | 35 | 0.51 | 0.78 |
| Barcelona | 186 | 105 | 76 | 0.56 | 0.97 |
| PSG | 88 | 72 | 42 | 0.81 | 1.29 |
| Brazil | 103 | 64 | 43 | 0.62 | 1.03 |
A footballer for history in Europe and Brazil
If Neymar has worked remarkably in his clubs, his best games have been on many occasions with his team. When the attacker dons the yellow jersey, he usually takes his football one step further even if he does not beat the records achieved with in Paris. With his hat trick against Peru, he beat Ronaldo and became the second highest scorer in the history of the most successful team in the World Cup, only behind Pelé. The distance between the two 10 is just 13 goals, something that seems achievable for the Mogi das Cruzes footballer at just 28 years old. For now, he has stopped his mark at 64 goals and 103 games.
Historical records that he has left to crown with what both Ronaldo Nazario and Pelé achieved: one more star for the Brazil jersey. The one that would put him, fully fledged, to discuss O'Rei's throne.