Hello everyone I am back!! After my first post introducing myself
to you all, I couldn't wait to write more about the things which I
have been learning and experiencing in my life. The hard part was actually
choosing one topic out of the many I have been following and reading about
recently. Since, I am a huge soccer fan and was able to follow this player’s
career from the beginning. I will give you my insights on the most commented
transfer in the soccer world this past week of Neymar Jr. moving from Santos FC
to Barcelona FC.
When Neymar Jr. come upon the soccer world we was only 16 years old.
He was the big promise for Brazilian soccer and Santos FC (that by the way is
one of my team’s rival). After his first season with Santos, winning two titles
for the club, Neymar gained the attention of many European teams such as Real
Madrid and Barcelona. It wasn't only his soccer that caught the big
clubs eyes but also his charisma. It was hard to find someone who did not like
him even with all the goofy celebration, crazy hair styles, and his cocky
attitude inside the field.
In his second season for Santos, was when he really exploded by
winning several personal and club titles, with one of being the most
important soccer tournament in the Americas (Libertadores). After that
season EVERY single Brazilian expected that big European clubs were going to
take him away, like normally happens to the players his league. The beauty of
this whole story is that the usual didn't happen. Neymar stayed in
Santos, even after receiving million dollar offers from European clubs. Santos
and Neymar’s agent, who is actually his dad, where very smart in keeping him in
Brazil. Neymar was earning millions of dollars by endorsing products, showing
up in commercials, and building a massive online fan base that will support him
forever (like Justin Bieber). Him being really young at the time, and
moving to Europe with all the pressure put on him, could have actually been
devastating for his career. If he failed to perform the way he was expected to,
his whole career could have crumbled and he wouldn't be that star
player that he is right now.
This past week, the expected has arrived and Santos FC couldn't hold
Neymar in Brazil any longer. Being bombarded with consecutive offers from Real
Madrid and Barcelona, it was just a matter of time for them to surrender.
Especially because if Santos didn't sell Neymar in this transfer
window they wouldn't have made one third of the money they made right now,
since his contract with Santos would've ended. So it happened, Santos
accepted the offer of both Real Madrid (42 million euros) and Barcelona (32
million euros) and let Neymar decide where he wanted to go and he
choose Barcelona.The choice was obvious since by quoting Neymar's
words "we learned to play soccer" after being schooled by Barcelona
on the FIFA World Cup of Clubs in 2011, he had kind of made a “gentleman’s
agreement” with Barca about going to play for them in the future.
What I also experienced following his story along the years
was that at the end, people were excited for him going to play for Barcelona...
YES, but they were more relived because this whole novel was over. Neymar was
presented to Barcelona on Monday, June 3, with almost 30 thousand people
filling up Camp Nou (Bracelon’s Stadium) to see him. If that is not enough, he
also stopped Brazilian national TV channels just to show him being presented as
Barcelona’s player. In my opinion he did what was right by
following his heart and not his wallet.
As a business and
marketing student what I take from this whole novel of Neymar and Barcelona is
that Santos and Neymar’s agent were really smart. They marketed his image so
well in Brazil and in the world, that sometimes I believe he is
actually better known for his funky hair styles and humor on the web, than for
his actual soccer skills. They held back to not under sell him when they
needed, and let him go when they felt there were no more opportunities for him
in Brazil. They knew, in order for Neymar to increase his value as a player and
expand the marketability of his image he had to go to Europe. If you don’t be
believe me check out the article release at globo.com the day after he was
presented as Barcelona’s player, which states that his net worth grew 22, 6%
the day he put on Barca’s shirt.
Thanks for taking your time to read it and see next time... Tchau!!
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