Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, more commonly known as Neymar, or Neymar Jr., is a 26 year-old Brazilian soccer phenom, and the star of Paris Saint-Germain FC (PSG). He is also one of the most handsomely compensated players in the game today.  

Early Life

Neymar was born in Mogi Das Cruzes, Brazil on February 5, 1992, in the southeast of the Sao Paulo state. Neymar started his youth career at the club Portuguesa Santista, where he played for about four years, before moving to the Brazilian giant Santos FC, in 2003. Neymar broke into the first team at Santos in 2009, at age 17. 

Career

In his time at Santos, Neymar helped the club win the Brazilian first league. two consecutive Brazilian cups, and the Copa Libertadores, a continental cup. The club's Copa Libertadores win was their first title in the competition since 1963, when Pelé was a part of the team. Later that year (2011), Neymar was awarded the first of two consecutive South American Footballer of the Year Awards. 

In the summer of 2013, Neymar joined FC Barcelona and signed a contract through 2018. At Barcelona, Neymar helped the club win the league, the domestic cup, the Champions League, among other competitions. 

In 2016, Neymar signed a contract extension with FC Barcelona that included a release clause of €200 million if traded for in the first year, and €222 million the following year. In 2017, PSG paid €222 million for the rights to Neymar, making him trigger the largest-ever transfer fee of all-time. He is currently under contract with PSG through 2021.

Net Worth

According to the Forbes World’s Highest Paid Athletes in 2018, Neymar is the fifth highest paid athlete in the world—placing him one spot higher than LeBron James. Neymar is worth $90 million, of which $73 million comes from his salaried earnings and winnings. The other $17 million is from endorsements, with companies like Red Bull, Gillette (PG), McDonalds (MCD), Beats by Dre (AAPL), and Nike (NKE). 

According to TheStreet, it has been estimated that Neymar's net worth is in the ballpark of $185 million.