The thought of playing alongside Lionel Messi has Neymar feeling like “one of the luckiest men in the world” after the Brazilian committed five years of his career to Barcelona.
The 21-year-old striker flew to Barcelona to sign a five-year contract with the Catalan giants, with 57 million euros (£48,600,000) going to Santos nine days after a preliminary agreement between the clubs was made public.
After posing for photographers and passing a two-part medical at Barca’s offices, Neymar put pen to paper on a deal running through to June 2018 in the presence of president Sandro Rosell, vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu and sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta.
Thousands of fans and hundreds of journalists awaited Neymar’s arrival on the Camp Nou pitch and, after parading his ball skills and the new Blaugrana shirt, the Brazilian admitted treading the turf where Argentinian forward Messi has developed into the envy of world football was overwhelming.
He said: “The thrill of being cheered when I entered the Nou Camp … it was hard not to cry. My dream has come true. I’ve never worried about being the best in the world. The best is already here and that’s Messi.
“I’m one of the luckiest men in the world to be able to play with him and it’s an honour. I’m very happy to be realising my life’s dream.”
The player’s contract has a buy-out clause set at 190m euros (£162m).