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American sportswear giants, Nike have decided to replace Cristiano Ronaldo with Neymar as their number one brand ambassador, Lequipe reports.
The Brazilian forward has been in scintillating form this season for Barcelona, having scored 14 goals in 12 La Liga appearances so far. On the contrary, Cristiano Ronaldo’s star is on the fall as he has had an indifferent season compared to his lofty standards in La Liga with Los Blancos this term. Though, the Portuguese is currently the top goal scorer of the Champions League with 7 goals.
The news of Nike replacing Ronaldo with Neymar was disclosed by the website Marketing Deportivo, which says that the sportswear company have decided to launch the Brazilian as the top brand ambassador in June 2016.
Nike looking to capitalize on Neymar’s popularity ahead of Rio Olympics
The reason behind the step is that Neymar wishes to play for Brazil in the Rio Olympics, the opening ceremony for which will take place on August 5 next year at the iconic Maracana stadium. And projecting the flamboyant Brazilian as their top icon will significantly add to their brand value.
Another possible reason which can be cited is that Ronaldo will turn 31 next year whereas the Brazilian who shares his birthday with CR7 on February 5, will only turn 24 and can carry the brand exactly like his predecessor did all these years.
Neymar signed an 11-year deal with Nike in 2011 which will keep him with the sportswear brand for at least the next three world cups. Reportedly, Neymar was earning about £9.5m a year from the sponsorship with Nike during the last year’s World Cup. On the other hand, Cristiano was supposedly earning staggering £14.1million-a-year from the same brand. However, if the rumours of Neymar replacing Ronaldo are true, then we could see the Brazilian bag much more than he did last year.
The 23-year old currently endorses a number of top brands around the world which includes Panasonic and Volkswagen. Some other brands which he represents are Claro mobile, foot care brand Tenys Pe, Lupo, Guarana Antarctica, Unilever, Banco Santander, Heliar batteries, Red Bull, Rock & Soda, L’Oreal’s Drakkar Noir fragrance and Mentos.
