Neymar Jr. is a name that has been on the lips of everyone lately and the jaunty Brazilian has managed to change his image, from an unproven, yet extraordinary talent, to a true superstar and front figure for Nike’s new boot, the Hypervenom. We take a rocket to the stars and look at the phenomenon that is Neymar Jr.

How many times haven’t you heard it before: This guy is the new Zlatan, Ronaldo, Zidane, Laudrup, Messi, Maradona, Bergkamp, Cruyff, Pele, Schmeichel, (Insert random football superstar here). The football world has an abundance of predicted future mega stars, but suddenly the days go and the players you thought were destined for greatness, drift into memory. Others peak too early and burn up quicker than you can stop them on the night sky.

It is just a small part of these gigantic mega talents, who actually turn out to become the big star players, which they were otherwise foretold to be. There are however exceptions! Few have taken the crazy journey, like Neymar Jr., and gone from just being a big talent, to a full on superstar.

And how do you measure star status? Well, if you have just been bought by Barcelona and brought into the already star-studded squad, as one of the biggest names and you then consider that you have just been named the player of the tournament, on your way to Confederations Cup glory. That’s when you can start considering yourself as a real super star.

Neymar is with his just 21 years still a talent, but then again he has been so for many years now. He was already the talk of the town, when Ronaldinho was the biggest Brazilian player and this was not without good reason. With a pair of Vapor Superfly on his feet, Neymar showed the world at just 17 that he not only had sublime ball control, but also blistering pace. Is he is as fast as the video above suggests, well probably not, but it looks cool though.

Neymar grew up with a love of football and in the streets of Sao Paolo he got his rough football upbringing. His family was poor and Neymar had nothing to do, so naturally he started playing football. At the age of just 11 he was scouted by the Brazilian club Santos, in the year 2003 he signed a youth contract.

At the Santos youth academy the young Neymar Jr. had some very heavy shoes to fill, with ‘Pepe’, Pele and Robinho all starting their careers at ‘Pexie’, which is Santos’ nickname. The big players before didn’t seem to deter Neymar at all though, who quickly appeared as a shining light within the club and one of the biggest talents. He was also quickly likened to the biggest Brazilian player ever, Pele.

The 7th of May 2009 Santos played a match against Oeste and here Neymar Jr. got his début and if he was hoping of toning down the expectations, then he did a very poor job, because with impressive play he seemed to attract even more hype.

Since that day Neymar hasn’t looked back. Each game, each piece of skill, every shot and every goal he has added to the already sky high expectations. He has been Santos’ biggest profile, almost ever since that one day in May, as he has on the national side, where he got his début at the age of just 17.

An extraordinary talent like that does not go unnoticed by the rest of the world and almost instantly after being discovered, people where predicting big things for him in Europe. Many clubs were interested, with Real Madrid and Barcelona the most notable suitors, but it was not until this years transfer window that anyone managed to secure his signature.

We are yet to see whether Neymar Jr. can transform and conform his play to suit European football, but it is hard to see him not succeeding with his stupendous talent. If he continues the form he showed in the Confederations Cup, then Barca fans are in for a treat.

Nike don’t seem to be doubting Neymar’s qualities either, as he is a frequent visitor in their video’s and general marketing. Latest with the release of the Hypervenom, which plants him firmly in the marketing elite, along with Cristiano ronaldo and Ronaldinho. The question is, will Neymar in the future get a signature boot, much like Ronaldo.

Many footballers are proclaimed as the new big worldstars, but few ever materialise. Neymar is the exception – his qualities are unquestionable and with the number 11 on his Barcelona shirt and a brand new pair of Hypervenom, it’s no wonder he has been one of this summers biggest talking points. One question remains, is there any limit for Neymar, how good can he get?

Here at Unisportstore we love Neymar and his playful and bubbly attitude towards football and we have therefore made a campaign-site, which you can find right here. How good do you think he can get? Could he potentially become the greatest ever? As always we would love to know in the comment-section down below and on Facebook and Twitter.