After more than three hours of negotiations, Barcelona and Santos have reached an agreement for the Brazilian player from next season. According to Spanish Newspaper MundoDeportivo, Neymar, the 21 year-old Santos FC striker, has agreed to a 5 year deal with FC Barcelona.
Neymar will be a FC Barcelona player. The agreement is total between FC Barcelona, Neymar and Santos.
Santos FC announced last night that it had reached an agreement for Neymar with the 2 Spanish giants: FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. The decision was left to the young Brazilian striker himself as to where would be his destination. It seems the young stiker has made his decision, and he will be wearing the blaugrana unifrom next season.
5-year deal and €7 million per season
The final price of the transaction is yet undisclosed, but it is rumoured that Santos will receive between 23 and 25 million euros from the Catalan squad. Neymar will most probably sign a 5 year deal and earn €7 million a year. Barcelona is looking to make a public announcement this coming Sunday.
With this deal, FC Barcelona ensure a strategic recruitment of a player with a huge projection. To follow in the footsteps of Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho ?
Neymar, a marketing machine
In May 2013, the young Brazilian was rated by SportsPro magazine as the most marketable athlete in the world for the second consecutive year.
The list measures the monetary value, the age, the force in domestic markets, the charisma and their market potential in the next 3 years.
He was ranking ahead of the likes of FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (2nd), Usain Bolt (5th), Novak Djokovic (5th), Lewis Hamilton (7th) and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (8th).
SportsPro editor-in-chief David Cushnan said: “We ranked Neymar as the most marketable athlete in the world last year and there was really no argument for demoting him this time round.
Cushnan added: “His superstar status and obvious talent make him a magnet for brands in one of the world’s rising economies. “
“He’s everything a brand would want in an endorser and all the signs are his career has not even peaked yet.”
The 21-year-old Brazilian currently has 11 advertising contracts.
Back in March 2011, Neymar signed an 11-year contract with Nike.
In the same month, Panasonic paid an estimated US$2.4 million for a two-years sponsorship.
Other current sponsorships include worldwide famous brands, as well as brazilian brands : Volkswagen, Red Bull, Tenys Pé Baruel, Lupo, Ambev, Claro, Unilever and Santander. All of his sponsorships have earned him a total of an estimated €20 million / year.
In November 2012, the advertising agency Loducca created Neymar’s own personal brand logo, featuring the N, J and R with the N styled to match his Brazilian shirt number 11.
That is gonna be a killer squad next season. Hopefully they can bring a center back quick !!