He began playing football at an early age and he was soon spotted by who offered him a contract in 2003, where he was inducted into their .He enjoyed his time there gaining experience in football at the club.Despite being 17 Years old, on 7th March 2009,Neymar made his first international debut coming on as a70th minute substitute in a 2-1 win against Oeste. In his first season, Neymar racked up 14 goals in 48 games.
Neymar continued his ascendancy in 2010, and, on 15 April 2010, he scored five goals for Santos in an 8–1 rout of in the qualifying stages of the Brazilian Cup.In 2010 Santos Fc rejected a £12 million bid from English based West Ham United and later on a bid from Chelsea which was believed to be around £20 million.
Despite his first two seasons being highly successful, having ended the 2010 season with an impressive 42 goals in 60 games, problems had been identified, namely Neymar’s apparent taste for diving when tackled.On 5 February 2012, when he turned 20, Neymar scored his 100th goal as a professional football player, against Palmeiras in the .
Neymar continued enjoying cosecutive succesful seasons scoring a brace against the likes of Palmeiras and a Hat-trick at cruzeiro as Santos saw off Brazilian rivals 3–1 in the Group stage match.
On 18 March 2013, Neymar said that he had a “dream of playing in Europe, for a big club like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea.” But he went on to say, “There’s no point in speculating when I’ll leave Santos. I’ll leave when I want to.”Ahead of his last match for Santos, on 26 May against Flamengo, Neymar was in tears during the national anthem.
On 25th May 2013 Neymar announced that he will be signing for Barcelona on 27th may and join up with new teammates after playing in the .On 3 June 2013, Neymar was unveiled by Barcelona after passing medical tests and signing a contract that would keep him at the club through June 2018.Neymar made his competitive debut for Barcelona during the opening game of the season as a 63rd-minute substitute for in a 7–0 win against .
He continued enjoying consecutive succesful seasons winning the champions league and several laliga titles for the club.On 2 April 2017, Neymar scored his 100th goal for Barcelona in his 177th appearance for the club, netting in a 4–1 win over and on 27 May, Neymar scored in the , his 105th goal for the club, as Barcelona defeated 3–1 at the in Madrid.
On 3 August 2017, Barcelona announced that Neymar’s legal representatives made a payment of €222 million to the club, equal to the release clause of his contract.The 25-year-old signed a five-year contract worth £500,000 a week and was given the number 10 shirt.