When Neymar left Brazil at 21 in 2013, bound for Barcelona, he set off to establish himself as a soccer great, seemingly destined to be remembered as his country's greatest player since Pele.
Last week, 12 years on, he returned to first club Santos — Neymar the celebrity with unimaginable wealth, but a player whose fragile body has been badly diminished by injuries.
Neymar has been one of the finest players in the world when at the top of his game, a forward with dazzling skill who "understands football as art," as his former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique once said.
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