With 61 goals in 101 matches for Brazil since debuting at age 18, Neymar is the third highest goalscorer for his national team, trailing only Pelé and Ronaldo. He was a key player in Brazil's victories at the 2011 South American Youth Championship, where he finished as leading goalscorer, and the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, where he won the Golden Ball as player of the tournament. His participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2015 Copa América was cut short by injury and a suspension, respectively, before captaining Brazil to their first Olympic gold medal in men's football at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Two years later, Neymar featured at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Off the pitch, Neymar ranks among the world's most prominent sportsmen; SportsPro named him the most marketable athlete in the world in 2012 and 2013, and ESPN cited him as the world's fourth-most famous athlete in 2016. In 2017, Neymar was included by Time in its list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[12] By 2018, France Football ranked Neymar the world's third highest-paid footballer, and in 2019, Forbes ranked him the world's third highest-paid athlete.[13]

Wenger famously tried to sign the Uruguayan back in 2013, only for Suarez to make the move to Camp Nou a year later. When asked if he has any regrets about missing out on the striker, the Arsenal boss pointed to time as the great healer. “Not now. It happened to me before but not now,” he went on. “He’s a player there and we have to keep him quiet on Tuesday night. “We have to analyse what we do and do it well and together. Individually all their players are difficult to stop. We have to find a way to do it collectively.”