By
Patrick Clarke
(Featured Columnist) on August 2, 2013
David Ramos/Getty Images
Brazilian football sensation Neymar is making his transition from Santos to Barcelona as if he were a seasoned veteran this summer.
The 21-year-old striker has displayed impressive maturity during his summer move from South America to Spain. Recently, Neymar spoke to the media about his immense respect for new teammate Lionel Messi and the relationship the two stars now share.
Neymar describes their friendship as "fantastic," according to Goal.com :
My relationship with Messi is fantastic, I speak with him every day. Messi is the best player in the world, he has got all of my respect.
But Neymar wasn't brought to Camp Nou just to be pals with the world's top player; he was signed to help add to the Spanish giants' trophy case.
Barca won La Liga comfortably last season, but came up short in their pursuit of the Champions League and the Copa del Rey. With Neymar on board, expectations have grown, justifiably.
But thus far, the young superstar appears to be handling those expectations correctly, per Goal.com :
There is always pressure, I just try to keep calm, you have to take on this kind of pressure, it's part of football. I'm always happy as long as I'm helping the team, the important thing for me is just to play well and to be able to help the team. There is a lot of expectation over me, and I'm hoping to live up to these expectations.
Neymar's willingness to adapt to Barcelona's style of play is even more encouraging, per Goal.com :
I'm trying to adapt as quick as I can, Barca play the most beautiful football in the world, so I'm making as much effort as I can to adapt as quick as I can to the way that they play.
The elite forward is no stranger to Barca's style, and has made it clear that he will do everything in his power to fit in with the squad and help them win matches rather than looking to stand out from the crowd.
The numbers Neymar has accumulated in recent seasons prove he's a player that a team can build around. But the fact that Neymar won't even be the No. 1 option on his new team says a lot.
A player with over 130 goals at the club level since 2009, and 24 goals in 39 appearances for his national team, Neymar will be a target of opposing defenses match after match this coming season. But with Messi, who scored 60 goals in 50 appearances with Barca last year, not far away to help carry the burden, it's difficult to imagine Neymar failing to make an impact with his new team.
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He's already playing at an incredible level in the wake of winning the Golden Ball (given to the tournament's best player) at the 2013 Confederations Cup in his home country earlier this summer.
But now Neymar has developed a solid relationship with the face of the club, is saying all of the right things and acknowledging the lofty expectations he and his Barcelona teammates will face this coming season.
It's certainly fair to criticize the timing of Neymar's decision to head to Europe and the move altogether. But there's no doubt that the world-class forward has displayed tremendous maturity amid the most important transition of his career.