Is Neymar on his way to becoming the greatest goalscorer of all time?
The most worrying aspect about Neymar’s remarkable surge through this current campaign with Barcelona so far is that, for other sides in La Liga, he is showing no signs of slowing down. The Brazilian forward’s glorious period of blossoming has opened up the distinct possibility that he will shatter the long-standing Ronaldo/Messi duopoly at the summit of Spain’s Pichichi rankings.
Indeed, now coasting smoothly through his third season with the Catalan giants, Neymar is now most definitely showing signs that he is the heir apparent to both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the race for the Ballon d’Or. The most impressive aspect is that it is entirely easy to forget Neymar is still only 23 years old and, with bundles of time still to play with in what is sure to be a career lavishly decorated with individual accolades, he could be on his way to becoming the greatest goalscorer in the history of the game.
Of course, it goes without saying that the task is enormously in its difficulty, but Neymar is showing week in, week out that he is embracing his image as the golden boy for both club and country. Perhaps he is still just that bit shy of matching the superhuman goalscoring exploits of Ronaldo and Messi, but he is closing the gap convincingly. The age of Neymar beckons.
Neymar brushes off Copa America disappointment to shine in La Liga
Perhaps contributing to his reaching an apogee has been his maturing as a footballer, his moulding as a leader and his refinement as a poster boy for the global game. Not long ago, we were issuing damning and grim prognostications after Neymar was sent off in the second game of Brazil’s disastrous 2015 Copa America campaign for deliberately kicking the ball at Pablo Armero after the final whistle in the 1-0 defeat to Colombia.
The punishment for Neymar was a four-match ban, meaning that he missed the rest of the tournament as the Selecao crashed out. As you may expect, the post-mortems in the media were sharp-tongued in the direction of the crestfallen superstar. Many had questioned Neymar’s suitability in captaining his country, the most successful nation in the history of football. It was a heavy burden and Neymar appeared to be struggling under the weight of expectation. The next step for Neymar was crucial. But boy did he respond.
Easing back into the new season, he grabbed his first goal in the third game against Atletico Madrid. Once that free-kick flew over the wall and into the top corner at the Vicente Calderon, a new wave of confidence has washed over Neymar and he has duly completed a sequence of truly phenomenal performances, contributing goals and assists with almost frightening regularity.
It was Neymar, along with the brilliant Luis Suarez, who admirably stepped up to the plate during Lionel Messi’s absence this season, maintaining the entertainment levels for the thousands of demanding fans of the Camp Nou and – most importantly – delivering the points for Luis Enrique’s side. Messi’s injury in September was naturally met with great fear. A fear that, without their irreplaceable talisman and captain, the Barcelona machine would be weakened.
But that hasn’t been the case at all. Neymar has conducted his business on the pitch in such a manner that the word ‘irreplaceable’ doesn’t seem all that unshakable when discussing the legacy of Messi at the club. Neymar’s latest goals came in the 4-0 thrashing of Real Sociedad, where he also notched an assist to take him level with Espanyol’s Marco Asensio, marking Neymar as not only the deadliest finisher in the division so far this season, but also the most creative.
Neymar’s Clasico
In one of his most telling performances, the Brazilian mercilessly carved Real Madrid’s defence open in the Clasico triumph in creating six goalscoring chances for his teammates, assisting one goal with a delightful back-heel and also finding the back of the net himself.
In Barcelona’s greatest challenge of the season so far, Neymar had pulled the strings and dominated proceedings with a great maturity and leadership that has sometimes been sorely lacking. Tempering his more insensate characteristics, Neymar has propelled himself to being the anointed one at the Camp Nou. By the time Messi was introduced in the Clasico, in his return to action after two months, the job had already been done. Barcelona were already 3-0 up and cruising comfortably, thanks to the ingenuity of Neymar.
He had confidently finished to put Barca 2-0 up before producing a gorgeous touch to engineer Andres Iniesta’s thumping goal to make it three. Then came Messi – even though he was effectively not needed. It was an interesting snapshot of how this amazingly impressive Barcelona squad can thrive and thrill without the talents of their all-time goalscorer, driven by the ultra-confident Neymar.
It was wholly indicative of just how elusive he'd proven to be that Isco was reduced to merely swinging a boot at Neymar in frustration and duly getting himself sent off.
Can Neymar sustain this excellence?
Well, it’s going to be a huge ask. Neymar is not far off hitting the extraordinary heights enjoyed by Messi and Ronaldo and some would argue strongly that the Brazilian thoroughly deserves to be on the podium alongside the two most outstanding footballers of this generation at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Zurich in January.
Throughout Messi’s entire professional career, dating back to his time as a raw prodigy with Barcelona B, he has notched 427 goals in 522 appearances. Ronaldo’s is even more impressive, laying claim to 452 goals, with a barely believable return of 329 in 318 games for Real Madrid since 2009. Those are the numbers Neymar needs to be aspiring towards.
Any inclusion of him in the same breath in years to come with Ronaldo and Messi won’t happen unless he matches the spectacular scoring records of football’s greatest modern rivalry. After that, he can then have a crack at equalling his illustrious compatriots Romario and Pele, who can lay claim to 1,000 professional goals.
Neymar has installed himself at the top of the Pichichi rankings but staying there will define whether or not he is on his way to becoming the greatest goalscorer of all time. Undoubtedly, a haul of over 250 goals at the age of 23 is just magnificent. But Neymar will know, better than anyone, the amount of work that is required to place him in the pantheon alongside Ronaldo, Messi and the rest as the most prolific marksmen the game has ever seen.
One thing can be said, though; he’s certainly headed in the right direction.
| Santos | Barcelona | Brazil | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goals | 136 | 70 | 46 | 252 |