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Neymar da Silva Santos Junior or simply 'Neymar' is one of the best forwards in modern day football. The Brazilian has achieved a lot of fame, played at two of the best football clubs in the world, and achieved paramount success in his career.
The achievements of the 26-year-old have made people compare him with the legendary Pele. Neymar started his career playing for local club Santos in 2009 before he was roped in by the Spanish giants FC Barcelona in 2013.
His stint with the Blaugrana proved to be career-defining for him as he came to the limelight and prospered as part of the MSN (Messi Suarez Neymar) trio. He won the treble (league title, Copa del Rey, and Champions League) with the Catalans during the 2014-15 season.
The Brazilian, known for his immaculate dribbling and speed, went on to score 68 goals in 123 appearances for Barcelona before he moved on to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017. He is enjoying a highly successful tenure for the French club as well.
Neymar made his debut for the national team when he was just 18 years of age and is already the 3rd highest goalscorer for Brazil with 60 goals for his country.
The Brazilian superstar is the 2nd most followed male athlete on Instagram with 106 million followers, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo (146 million followers). With such phenomenal success, multiple individual honours and endorsement deals came Neymar's way.
However, in this article we will look at the 2 Guinness world records held by Neymar:
#2 Most expensive footballer in transfer history
When PSG wanted to acquire the services of Neymar from Barcelona, they had to shell out a hefty fee of €222 million (his release clause). This transfer made him the most expensive footballer in transfer history and set the Guinness World Record.
This mammoth amount was more than double of the then most expensive transfer of Paul Pogba (€105) from Juventus to Manchester United. Since then there have been three extremely expensive transfers: Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona for €105 million; Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool to Barcelona for €120 million; and Kylian Mbappe from Monaco to PSG for €180 million.
However, still no one has ever come even close to the amount Neymar got paid for his move to PSG and it is likely that he will hold the record for some time coming as well.
The world-class footballers' overall combined transfer fee of €308.2 million (€86.2 million from Santos to Barcelona and €222 million from Barcelona to PSG) is another Guinness World Record. The wealth the 26-year-old has procured in his career is almost unimaginable.
#1 Fastest goal in Olympic history (Male)
Neymar set the record for the fastest goal in Olympic history during Brazil's semifinal match against Honduras at the 2016 Summer Olympics. The youngster snatched the ball off a Honduras defender and found the back of the net in just 14 seconds.
Even though the Brazilian captain clashed with the goalkeeper Lopez after netting it home and was seen in agony soon after celebrating, he was okay soon after and went on to play the full 90 minutes of the game.
Brazil went on to win that game 6-0 and eventually the top honour after they defeated Germany on penalties in the gold medal match. In the match against Germany too, Neymar played a vital role and scored the solitary goal for Brazil in regulation time.
Before Neymar's goal against Honduras, the Guinness record for the fastest goal in Olympic history was held by Mexico’s Oribe Peralta. Ironically, Orico had scored that goal against Brazil in the previous edition, during the 2012 London games.
