You might remember him as someone who dazzled us with excitement all throughout the World Cup as he led his Brazilian squad to the semi-finals before losing to the eventual champions, Germany. In five games, he netted 4 goals which earned him the Bronze Boot as the third highest goal scorer of the tournament and he also delivered 16 balls into the penalty area which showed his goal-minded attitude.  This outstanding play that he demonstrated, delivered him much deserved recognition all throughout the soccer world and proved to people that even with a country resting on his shoulders, he was able to thrive when called upon.

He has been called ‘The Next Pelé’ by TIME Magazine. His name is Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, you probably know him as just Neymar. He is the Brazilian superstar who shined for Santos FC until 2013 when he was suddenly transferred to a foreign land to play for Spanish powerhouse, FC Barcelona. He was rewarded with the 10th highest transfer fee and was expected to produce right away. Things, however, did not originally pan out like he (or anyone else) would have liked in his first season at Camp Nou.

Neymar’s first season in Spain was a wild one for the Brazilian as injuries allowed him to play in only 26 of a possible 38 games in La Liga matches. He acted as if a different person and didn’t seem to have the goal scoring mentality that he once expressed. In those 26 games, he found the back of the net just 9 times. To put this number into perspective, he scored 8 goals in just 16 matches for Brazil in International matches that same year. Obviously he was not himself that season and FCB was hoping that their 107 million dollar investment wasn’t going to let them down.

As the 2014/2015 La Liga season begun, Barcelona had high hopes after recently acquiring Uruguayan star, Luis Suarez, from Liverpool who was once the Premier League’s top goal scorer. This was also a hopeful year for Neymar, who, at just 22 years of age, was looking to put his injury and work effort woes behind him as a new season was upon them. In the first three matches of the season, Neymar looked to be back to his superb scoring ways and already had 3 goals. He didn’t just stop there either and in the next three games, he added another 4 goals to his great year. Neymar has played in 13 of a possible 15 games, so far in this La Liga season, and has scored 11 goals which already tops his total from his first year in Spain in less than 13 matches.

So far this season, Neymar has looked back to his dominating goal scoring ways. He has been attacking the penalty box, firing at will, and does not seem to be afraid about being a future centerpiece for Barça. He is currently 3rd on the rankings for most La Liga goals so far this new season, only behind Ronaldo and team-mate Messi. And trust me, being behind Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is not something to droop your head over for. If this season is any indication of what may be in store during the upcoming years for Neymar, then I wouldn’t be too upset if I were FCB because he looks to be a superstar for a very, very long time.