Top master neymar jr biography

Brazilian footballer (born 1992)

For other uses, see Neymar (disambiguation).

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is da Silva and the second or paternal family name is Santos. "Júnior" is a generational suffix used for someone whose name is the same as their father, like "Jr." in English.

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation:[nejˈmaʁdɐˈsiwvɐˈsɐ̃tusˈʒũɲoʁ]; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or forward for Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal and the Brazil national team. Widely regarded as one of the best players of all time, he is known for his skills, dribbling, playmaking, and finishing.^[8] Neymar is one of the few players to have scored at least 100 goals for three different clubs. He is the highest-scoring Brazilian in the UEFA Champions League and is also Brazil's all-time top goalscorer.

Neymar made his professional debut with Santos in 2009. In 2011, he helped them win their first Copa Libertadores in nearly 50 years.^[9] In 2013, he joined Barcelona and became part of an attacking trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, dubbed MSN. Winning the continental treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League in the trio's first season, Neymar was the joint-top goalscorer of the Champions League campaign and top goalscorer of the Copa del Rey. In his final season, Neymar reached 100 goals for Barcelona and set the record for most assists in a Champions League campaign. Motivated to assume focal responsibility, Neymar joined Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in 2017 for a transfer worth €222 million, making him the most expensive player ever.^{[note 1]} He largely contributed to PSG's continuation of Ligue 1 title dominance and PSG reaching its first Champions League final, whilst establishing himself as one of the club's highest ever scorers. Continuing injuries caused PSG to sell him in 2023 to Al Hilal for €90 million, a Saudi Pro League record transfer.

At 18, Neymar debuted for Brazil. He is the nation's all-time top goalscorer, with 79 goals in 128 matches. He won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, winning the Golden Ball. In the 2014 FIFA World Cup, he was named in the Dream Team. He captained Brazil to their first Olympic gold medal in men's football in the 2016 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal at the 2012 edition. He helped Brazil finish runner-up to Argentina in the 2021 Copa América and was jointly awarded Best Player. In the 2022 World Cup, he became the third Brazilian player to score in three World Cups after Pelé and Ronaldo. Neymar has won a record six Samba Gold awards.

Neymar was named in the FIFA FIFPro World11 twicec, the UEFA Team of the Year twice, and the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season three times. He finished third for the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2015 and 2017 and won the FIFA Puskás Award in 2011. SportsPro named Neymar the world's most marketable athlete in 2012 and 2013. In 2017, Time included him in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.^[12]France Football ranked Neymar the world's third-highest-paid footballer of 2018. Forbes ranked him the world's third-highest-paid athlete of 2019,^[13] and dropped him to fourth in 2020.^[14]

Early life

Neymar was born in Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, to Neymar Santos Sr. and Nadine da Silva and had a Christian upbringing.^[15][16] He inherited his name from his father, who is a former footballer and became his son's advisor as Neymar's talents began to grow.^[17] Neymar comments on his father's role: "My father has been by my side since I was little. He takes care of things, my finances and my family."^[18] Growing up, Neymar combined his love of futsal with street football.^[19] Neymar said that futsal had a massive influence on him growing up, helping him develop his technique, speed of thought and ability to perform moves in tight spaces.^[20]

In 2003, Neymar moved with his family to São Vicente, where he began playing for youth side Portuguesa Santista.^[21] Then, later in 2003, they moved to Santos, where Neymar joined Santos.^[22] With the success of his youth career and added income, the family bought their first property, a house next to Vila Belmiro, Santos' home stadium. Their quality of family life improved, as at age 15, Neymar was earning 10,000 reais per month and at 16, 125,000 reais per month. At 17, he signed his first full professional contract, was upgraded to the Santos first team, and began signing his first sponsorship deals.

Club career

Santos

Youth

Neymar began playing football at an early age and he was soon spotted by Santos 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.^[24] 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. 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.^[25][26]

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.^[19] 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.^[27] In the final, however, Santos suffered a 4–2 aggregate defeat to Corinthians.^[28] In his first season, Neymar racked up 14 goals in 48 games.^[19]

2010: Campeonato Paulista success

He continued his ascendancy in 2010, and, on 15 April, he scored five goals for Santos in an 8–1 rout of Guarani in the qualifying stages of the Brazilian Cup.^[30] Following the 2010 Campeonato Paulista in which Neymar scored 14 goals in 19 games,^[24] the club were crowned champions after a 5–5 aggregate win over Santo André in the finals.^[31] Neymar was subsequently given the award for the best player in the competition.^[32] Neymar's performances for Santos drew comparisons to other Brazilians, including Robinho and Pelé.^[33]

In 2010, Santos rejected a £12 million bid for him from English Premier League team West Ham United,^[34] and later an offer from another English club, Chelsea, reported to be in the region of £20 million.^[35] Despite the unwillingness of Santos to sell and Neymar himself stating: "I'm focused only on Santos",^[36] 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."^[35] One year later Neymar said, 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.^[37]

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).^[38] 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.^[39]

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.^[40] 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.^[19] 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.^[41]

2011: Puskás Award

Neymar scored six goals during Santos' run to the 2011 Copa Libertadores Finals, tying him for third top goalscorer,^[42] including the clinching goal of Santos' 4–3 aggregate win over Cerro Porteño in the semi-finals.^[43] In the two-legged final, Santos faced Uruguayan side Peñarol and drew the first leg 0–0 in Montevideo.^[44] At home in the second leg, Neymar opened the scoring in the 46th minute as Santos held on for a 2–1 win and Neymar won Man of the Match honours.^[45][46] The win brought Santos their first Copa Libertadores triumph since 1963, when Brazilian legend Pelé was playing for the club.^[47][48]

In September 2011, Santos club president Luís Ribeiro threatened to report Real Madrid to FIFA following reports that they had attempted to sign Neymar to a pre-contract agreement, and denied that such an agreement was in place.^[49] On 9 November, Neymar and Santos agreed to a contract extension that would see the player stay with the club until after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The deal reportedly increased Neymar's wages by 50%, to the levels that top European clubs would be paying him.^[50] On 14 December, Neymar scored the opening goal for Santos as they defeated Kashiwa Reysol 3–1 in the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup at the Toyota Stadium in Toyota, Japan, but failed to score against Barcelona in the final on 18 December, where Santos were defeated 4–0, finishing as runners-up in the competition.^[51] He won the 2011 FIFA Puskás Award for scoring a solo goal in the Brasileirão Série A against Flamengo, in a 5–4 loss. On 31 December, he won the 2011 South American Footballer of the Year award for the first time, by a record margin, following in the footsteps of Diego Maradona, Romário, Pelé and Zico.^[52]

2012: South America's best player

On 5 February 2012, when he turned 20, Neymar scored his 100th goal as a professional football player, against Palmeiras in the Campeonato Paulista.^[53][54] On 25 February – he scored two goals, one of which was from 25-yards – and created two assists to help his side to a 6–1 win over Ponte Preta.^[55] On 7 March, Neymar netted a hat-trick as Santos saw off Brazilian rivals Internacional 3–1 in the Copa Libertadores Group stage match.^[56] On 29 March, he scored a brace against Guaratinguetá in a 5–0 victory.^[57] In the fixture against São Paulo on 29 April 2012, Neymar scored a hat-trick with the match ending 3–1.^[58] Thereafter, he went on to score twice in the first^[59] and second legs^[60] in the 2012 Campeonato Paulista Finals against Guarani, which ended 7–2 on aggregate. Neymar finished the 2012 Campeonato Paulista with 20 goals and was voted the Best player and Best Forward, and Santos were crowned champions. He was joint top scorer in the Copa Libertadores with eight goals, after Santos were beaten over two legs by eventual champions Corinthians in the semi-finals.

On 25 August 2012, he scored a brace in the 2–1 away win at Palmeiras.^[61] On 3 November, in the Brasileiro Série A away fixture at Cruzeiro, Neymar scored a hat-trick and assisted Felipe Anderson's goal, to help his side to a 4–0 win.^[62] Neymar finished off the 2012 season in style, first setting-up Victor Andrade's equaliser, then scoring twice, to give Santos a 3–1 home win over Palmeiras on 1 December.^[63] Neymar was voted the Best Player of the 2012 Recopa Sudamericana, with himself scoring in the second leg to win the title 2–0 on aggregate. He finished the 2012 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A with 14 goals and being voted the Best forward. Neymar finished the 2012 season, being award the Golden Ball, Arthur Friedenreich Award and Armando Nogueira Trophy. He was one of three finalists in the 2012 FIFA Puskás Award and finished runners-up behind Miroslav Stoch. He won the 2012 South American Footballer of the Year, retaining his award and winning it ahead of the likes of Ronaldinho.^[64]

2013: Final season

Neymar started the 2013 Campeonato Paulista scoring twice in the first match, which ended a 3–1 win over São Bernardo on 19 January 2013.^[65] On 3 February, in the Paulista fixture against São Paulo, where Santos won 3–1, with Neymar scoring and making two assists.^[66] On 18 March, Neymar told that he had a "dream of playing in Europe, for a big club like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea." But he went on to say, "There's no point in speculating when I'll leave Santos. I'll leave when I want to."^[67]

Neymar scored all four goals, had another disallowed and hit the post as Santos beat União Barbarense 4–0 in the Paulista on 13 April.^[68] On 25 April, his agent and father revealed that Neymar intended to leave for Europe before the 2014 FIFA World Cup.^[69] Ahead of his last match for Santos, on 26 May against Flamengo, Neymar was in tears during the national anthem.^[70]

Barcelona

See also: Transfer (association football) § 2013: Transfer of Neymar from Santos to Barcelona

On 24 May 2013, Santos announced that they had received two offers for Neymar. The following day, Neymar announced he would sign with Barcelona on 27 May and join the team after playing in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. Neither Neymar nor the clubs released details on the transfer fee or personal terms, save to say he signed a five-year deal.^[71] On 3 June, Neymar was unveiled by Barcelona after passing medical tests and signing a contract that would keep him at the club through June 2018.^[72]

Neymar was presented at the Camp Nou in front of 56,500 fans, a record turnout for a Brazilian player.^[73] Club vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu initially said Neymar's transfer fee was €57.1 million and his release clause set at €190 million.^[74][75] Barcelona's doctor suggested he might need to gain weight to be able to cope physically in Spanish football.^[76]

Transfer investigation

In January 2014, the prosecutor's office in Madrid began investigating the transfer fee that Barcelona paid for Neymar.^[77] The documents submitted to the authorities on request contained contradictory information.^[77] On 23 January 2014, Rosell resigned from his position as president.^[78] A day later, the details of the transfer were revealed by Barcelona; the transfer had in fact cost them €86.2 million (£71.5 million),^[79][80][81] with Neymar's parents confirmed to have received a €40 million sum.^[82][83] In the aftermath, Barcelona and Bartomeu were charged with tax fraud.^[84]

2013–14: Adapting to Spain

On 30 July 2013, Barcelona drew 2–2 against Lechia Gdańsk in a pre-season friendly; Neymar made his unofficial debut when he came on as a substitute.^[85] He scored his first goal for the club in a 7–1 win against a Thailand XI on 7 August at the Rajamangala National Stadium.^[86] Neymar made his competitive debut for Barcelona during the opening game of the 2013–14La Liga season as a 63rd-minute substitute for Alexis Sánchez in a 7–0 win against Levante.^[87] On 21 August, he scored his first competitive goal for the club in the first leg of the 2013Supercopa de España against Atlético Madrid: seven minutes after coming on as a substitute for Pedro, he headed Dani Alves' cross to equalise in a 1–1 draw at the Vicente Calderón Stadium as Barcelona won on the away goals rule for his first trophy at the club.^[88] On 18 September, he made his UEFA Champions League debut, assisting a Gerard Piqué goal as Barça beat Ajax 4–0 in their opening match of the 2013–14 tournament.

Six days later, Neymar scored his first goal in La Liga in Barcelona's 4–1 defeat of Real Sociedad at Camp Nou.^[89] On 26 October, he made his first El Clásico appearance, scoring the opening goal and assisting the team's winning goal scored by Alexis Sánchez as Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2–1 at Camp Nou.^[90] On 11 December, Neymar recorded his first three Champions League goals as he scored a hat-trick in a 6–1 win over Celtic in Barcelona's final Group H match.^[91]

2014–15: The treble and individual success

On 13 September 2014, after appearing as a substitute, Neymar scored his first two goals of the 2014–15 season, helping Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 2–0. On 27 September, he scored a hat-trick against Granada in a 6–0 win^[92] and scored in his next three La Liga matches, including the opening goal in a 1–3 loss to Real Madrid at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.^[93]

On 24 January 2015, Neymar scored twice and assisted two more goals in a 6–0 win at Elche.^[94] On 28 January, he scored his 20th goal of the season in a 3–2 Copa del Rey quarter-final win over Atlético Madrid.^[95] On 4 March, Neymar scored twice in Barcelona's 3–1 Copa del Rey semi-final win over Villarreal to qualify the club for its 37th Spanish Cup final.^[96] On 21 April, Neymar took his tally to 30 goals for the season by scoring twice in Barcelona's 2–0 Champions League quarter-final win over Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).^[97]

In May, the closing month of the season, Neymar scored the last goal in a 3–0 win against Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.^[98] A week later, he scored both the team's goals in a 3–2-second leg defeat at the Allianz Arena to ensure Barça would qualify for the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final.^[99] He also opened the scoring with a header in a 2–0 league win versus Real Sociedad, a result which gave Barça a four-point lead over Real Madrid with only two matches remaining.^[100]

After securing the league title on 17 May with a 1–0 win over Atlético Madrid at the Vicente Calderón, Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 3–1 at Camp Nou in the 2015 Copa del Rey Final on 30 May, with Neymar scoring the second goal for Barça.^[101] With Barcelona's victory likely, he performed tricks with the ball in the final stages of the game, which was deemed unsporting by opponent Andoni Iraola. Barcelona manager Luis Enrique claimed that it had to be understood that such behaviour was acceptable in Brazil, while Neymar himself did not apologise.^[102]

On 6 June, Neymar scored the third goal for Barça in the 3–1 Champions League Final defeat of Italian champions Juventus at Berlin's Olympiastadion, ensuring the club won its fifth European Cup.^[103] This made Barcelona the first club in history to twice win the treble of domestic league, domestic cup and European Cup.^[104] On a personal note, he became the eighth player in football's history to win both the Copa Libertadores and the UEFA Champions League, and the first player to score in final victories in both competitions.^[105] Neymar ended the season with 39 goals in all competitions and 10 in the Champions League, making him joint highest scorer with Cristiano Ronaldo and teammate Lionel Messi in the latter competition.^[106] He was the first player apart from those two to top the competition's scoring list, since compatriot Kaká in 2006–07.^[107] Barcelona's attacking trio of Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar, dubbed "MSN", ended with 122 goals, the most in a season for an attacking trio in Spanish football history.^[108]

2015–16: Domestic double

Due to having the mumps, Neymar was expected to miss the 2015 UEFA Super Cup and the 2015 Supercopa de España.^[109] 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.^[110] 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.^[111] 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.^[112] On 30 November, Neymar was shortlisted for the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or alongside Messi and Ronaldo, and subsequently came third.^[113][114] 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.^[115][116] 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.^[117]

2016–17: Final season

In Barcelona's 6–1 victory over PSG in the Champions League round of 16, Neymar had a miraculous and heroic role in Barcelona's comeback, by scoring two goals and assisted the decisive goal of Sergi Roberto during the closing seven-minute sequence, of which he was named man of the match, based on his efforts.^[119][120] Overcoming the 4–0 loss to PSG in the first leg from 14 February 2017, this second leg match became the biggest comeback in Champions League history.^[121]

On 2 April, Neymar scored his 100th goal for Barcelona in his 177th appearance for the club, netting in a 4–1 win over Granada.^[122][123] On 27 May, Neymar scored in the 2017 Copa del Rey Final, his 105th goal for the club, as Barcelona defeated Alavés 3–1 at the Vicente Calderón in Madrid.^[124]

Desire to leave Barcelona

According to former Barcelona teammate Xavi, Neymar informed his teammates of his desire to leave Barcelona at Messi's wedding in June 2017.^[125] By July 2017, media speculation emerged that Neymar wanted to join PSG, with the club holding talks with Barcelona officials. At 25-years old, Neymar was motivated to leave Barcelona to step out of Messi's shadow and be the sole star player, increasing the likelihood of him winning the Ballon d'Or.^[126] Barcelona president, Bartomeu, admitted he was powerless to stop him from wanting to leave: "Neymar is one of our best players and so we don't want to lose that player," he said. "We want him to continue with us. He still has four years of his contract so there is nothing else to say [...] You know that players decide if they want to leave, they can decide."^[127] On 2 August 2017, Neymar asked Barcelona to allow him to leave.^[128]

Paris Saint-Germain

On 3 August 2017, Barcelona announced that Neymar's legal representatives made a payment of €222 million^[129] to the club, equal to the release clause of his contract, which constituted the most expensive transfer ever. The club informed UEFA so that they can determine any disciplinary responsibilities that may arise from this case.^[10] According to the BBC, in Spain, the release clause must be activated by the footballer himself. The situation was unusual, in that the fee was paid to the club directly, after La Liga had refused to receive the payment.^[130][11] Usually, the buyout clause is deposited with La Liga in order to release the player from his contract, and the league then passes the money to the selling club. However, La Liga rejected the payment—citing violation of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules by PSG, who are backed by money from Gulf state Qatar.^[131]

Neymar joined PSG on a contract that would run until 2022.^[132] He was offered the number 10 shirt by Javier Pastore as a "welcome gift".^[133][134] It was believed that PSG signed Neymar to increase their chances of winning the Champions League.^[135]

The relationship between Neymar and Barcelona fans was tainted following his unexpected transfer to PSG, with some fans burning Barcelona jerseys with Neymar's name on it.^[136] In his presentation on 17 August, Neymar said that leaving Barcelona was one of the toughest decisions in his life.^[137] The presentation was reported to have been watched by 85 million viewers in Brazil.^[138] Neymar was unequivocally considered the star player of Ligue 1; Lille's general director Marc Ingla credited the presence of Neymar in Ligue 1 to potentially accelerating it into a powerhouse league in Europe, alongside the Premier League and La Liga.^[139]

Contract breach lawsuit

On 27 August 2017, Barcelona filed a lawsuit against Neymar, demanding he return the contract renewal bonus he received as well as €8.5 million in damages and an additional 10% for the arrears. They claimed they are owed money that Neymar received as part of a renewal bonus when he signed a new contract in 2016. The club also requested PSG to take on the responsibility for the payment of the fees if the player cannot do so himself.^[140] Neymar's lawyers announced that they would contest the case.^[141]

2017–18: Debut season and domestic treble

Neymar made his debut for Les Rouge-et-Bleu on 13 August 2017, scoring a goal and assisting another in a 3–0 away victory over Guingamp.^[142] Highlighting the hype around Neymar's arrival in Paris, the match was broadcast in 183 countries.^[143] After the match, Neymar said, "People think that leaving Barca is to die, but it's the opposite [...] I'm more alive than ever."^[144]

He added two more goals to his tally in the next Ligue 1 fixture against Toulouse.^[145] Forming a prolific attacking trio alongside teenage French prodigy Kylian Mbappé and Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani, Neymar scored one each in PSG's two opening games of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage, with the team winning 5–0 at Celtic and 3–0 at home over Bayern Munich respectively.^[146][147] Neymar finished in third place in the 2017 Ballon d'Or and in the same year was ranked the third-best footballer in the world by The Guardian, both times behind Messi and Ronaldo.^[148]

During a 3–0 defeat of rivals Marseille on 25 February 2018, Neymar fractured the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot. He travelled to Belo Horizonte and underwent a successful operation on his foot.^[149] Despite failing to make another appearance for PSG while recovering from the injury, Neymar consequently ended his first season in Paris with 28 goals in 30 matches, including 6 goals in 7 Champions League matches.^[150] A testament to the success of his debut season, Neymar was awarded the Ligue 1 Player of the Year.^[151]

Neymar was rushed back to play for Brazil at the 2018 World Cup in Russia following the injury in February, but his playing style was not quite the same as he appeared to be avoiding physical contact entirely rather than simply trying to draw fouls.^[136]

2018–19: Injury and league title

On 12 August 2018, Neymar scored PSG's opening league goal of the 2018–19 season in a 3–0 win over Caen at Parc des Princes.^[152] Neymar scored from a penalty in his next game as PSG won 3–1 against Guingamp in Ligue 1.^[153] In the following league game, the front three of Neymar, Mbappé and Cavani all scored in a 3–1 win over Angers at home, with Neymar scoring from Mbappé's cut back and setting up Cavani to score the opener.^[154]

On 3 October, Neymar scored a hattrick in a 6–1 win over Red Star Belgrade in a Champions League group stage fixture.^[155] He suffered a foot injury in late January 2019 that kept him out of his side's Champions League round of 16 tie against Manchester United.^[156] After United eliminated PSG, Neymar went on Instagram insulting video review officials for awarding a stoppage-time penalty to United; UEFA banned Neymar for three matches for the insult.^[157]

On 27 April, Neymar scored in the 2019 Coupe de France Final against Rennes, but Rennes made a comeback and won on penalties. After the match, Neymar was caught on video appearing to punch a spectator in the face.^[158] The spectator had been filming and insulting PSG players. PSG said they supported Neymar "100 percent" over the incident.^[157] Neymar admitted he was wrong, but argued that neither he nor anyone else could have stayed indifferent. PSG coach Thomas Tuchel responded: "It's not easy to climb the stairs after a defeat. If we lose, we must show respect. You can't come into conflict with a spectator."^[158]

Potential return to Barcelona

In July 2019, Neymar was absent from training with PSG, with the club talking disciplinary action.^[159] Neymar wanted to leave PSG as he felt referees never protected him, there was jealousy towards him from some dressing room team-mates, fans did not appreciate his talent showcased in PSG and sections of the French media were against him.^[160]

According to Sky Sports News, Neymar was prepared to pay €20m of his own money to PSG in five instalments to facilitate a move to Barcelona. On 27 August 2019, both clubs met to discuss Neymar's situation, but according to PSG sporting director Leonardo, Barcelona's only written offer came during the meeting, which was not enough and PSG refused.^[160] Three days later, on 30 August, an offer was made in writing from Neymar to PSG general manager Jean-Claude Blanc. Neymar's offer was dismissed by PSG because of French football federation regulations,^[160] and he ultimately agreed to stay at PSG after the talks to return to Barcelona broke down.^[161]Sky Sports News also reported that Real Madrid were interested in signing Neymar throughout the transfer window.^[161]

2019–20: PSG's first Champions League final

Neymar made his first appearance for PSG in the 2019–20 season on 14 September, in a 1–0 victory over Strasbourg in Ligue 1. He scored the winning goal in injury time in the second half from a bicycle kick.^[162] One week later, he again scored a late winner, as PSG defeated Lyon 1–0 at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais.^[163] Neymar suffered a hamstring injury in October while on international duty with Brazil,^[164] and returned to play for PSG during their Champions League group match against Real Madrid on 26 November in a 2–2 draw.

Neymar won his third league title after PSG were awarded Ligue 1 as the season finished early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[165] In his first 50 matches in Ligue 1, Neymar scored 46 goals, being the first player to do so since Marseille's Gunnar Andersson in the early 1950s.^[166] On 24 July 2020, in PSG's first professional game back after the pandemic, Neymar scored his side's lone goal in a 1–0 win over Saint-Étienne in the Coupe de France Final, winning his second Coupe de France title with the club.