Neymar's first 1,000 days with Barça: "People can relax, my son is very happy with Barça"

Neymar DaSilva, father of the Barça footballer, speaks passionately when he talks about his son, who yesterday marked 1,000 days with the club. Father, and at the same time businessman, he defends Neymar the player and the Neymar business, which he wisely began in 2004. When his son was only 12 years old, he began to devise the Neymar brand: a lifetime project aimed at making that boy one of the best football players on the planet.

One thousand days of Neymar with Barça. Has it gone as you anticipated three years ago?

Yes. Everything that Neymar has conquered, everything that he has achieved is a dream come true for my son. He is with the club that he wanted to be with since he was small, and it's been a positive experience. We've learned many things in Barcelona, every day, that success comes from winning battles. We'll never manage to have a quiet life here, but we are happy.

Considering that not everyone believed that two roosters could be together in a single coop ... Now there are three.

There have to be roosters in a chicken coop, right? People can talk all they like, it doesn't bother me. Football is that way. It may be that what is happening here has never happened before in the history of football. But luckily for Barça, these three roosters are happy, and the threesome is making the fans here happy --and also people around the world. Not only for the way they play, how they work together on the pitch, but also for their relationship off the field, how they work together, always happy.

From what they say, you are someone who believes that the better you behave off the field, the better overall.

Yes! If you have a good working atmosphere, favorable to everyone, when you're friends, when you're a family the way they are, very united, and that this is difficult to break, it has an effect on your game. Barça is an example of a collective, but also of individual talent that could be important in certain moments.

It showed in the first goal against Arsenal.

Impressive. They only needed a ball to decide the game, and when they had the opportunity, they seized it.

The photo that you have behind you, the picture of the three hugging each other in the game, says a lot. Their friendship is real.

[Laughing] If I was in marketing, I would make money with this; but I don't have a company to work with all three. Really, the happiness of those three fills me with pride, and particularly as a father, to know that Neymar has joined a club like Barça, and how he has been received by its biggest star, but also by the whole group... And then Suárez came and was given the same welcome ....

Has Neymar become a man in Barcelona?

His dream was to play for Barça. He wouldn't have gone to any other team in Europe without first playing for Barça. Firstly, because his idol, Messi, is here in Barcelona. Secondly, because he wanted to play with this generation of footballers. Thirdly, because he enjoys the way this team plays football. It's very complicated to do what Barça does, it's always the football against power, talent against determination. All of the players on this team have talent; they always talk of the Big 3, but if you look behind them you find Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic, and a little farther behind Piqué and Mascherano. They've brought together a team of spectacular quality. All of them are incredibly talented. For us, it's an triumph just to be here.

Will your son win a Ballon d'Or with Messi by his side? I say this for the great respect that you have for him, as you always make it clear that the Argentinian is Number One.

The respect goes both ways-- what Neymar has for Messi and Suárez, they also have for him. The football world will decide when Neymar, or Messi, or Suárez will win the next Ballons d'Or. He knows that it will come to him when it's his time, and it's not necessary to seek it out. He doesn't need it. He prefers to win the Champions this year, which is a dream, rather than talk about the Ballon d'Or. Clearly individual titles are important, but the collective goals come first.

Dunga will come to Barcelona to decide if Neymar plays in the Copa America and the Olympic Games this summer.

I found out in the press. At the moment, we haven't heard anything officially. We don't have any problem with this. When he comes, we'll talk about the future of the national team. But make no mistake: Neymar wants to play in it all.

There are a lot of games...

But many players are that way-- they enjoy being on the pirch, regardless of whether or not they're playing an inferior side or a national team. They love to play.

You're Brazilian... Four Champions League victories or a World Cup for your son?

[Laughs.] The Champions League is one of the most important championships in the world-- for years we've sought a title like that. But for us, Brazilians, the World Cup is very important, it's a dream in Neymar's career.

Will he continue with Barcelona for many years?

We hope so. He has two more years on his contract. People can relax for those two years.

People won't be calm with only two years left. Will he extend his contract?

We'll start to talk now.

You haven't started? There isn't a pre-agreement?

No. We spent so much time defending ourselves against the accusations against us, that to think about renewing would have been rushing things. We're comfortable with everything that we do with Barça, and I think that Barça is, too. President Bartomeu can be certain that we will talk in May, and lay out the ideal path for Neymar and Barça to work together. People have to relax now, we're being attacked from all sides, and we have to defend ourselves well, leaving everything clear, so that they will let us work and Neymar can be even happier, which we are already, in Barcelona.

Your worst experience-- appearing before the Spanish National Court?

There have been no accusations against us here. Neither against Neymar nor against my businesses. But there is an accusation from a company in Brazil that has ended up here, in Madrid. Their first attempt was not successful, but their second try was, in Madrid. We are being investigated and I hope that it ends soon, because the complaint is unfounded. It makes me uneasy when improper allegations like these are accepted in court.

Has politics come into play in this case?

I don't know. People don't have a clear answer to this. People want this to end. How can it be that a transfer accepted by FIFA, which accepted everything, has now turned into something illegal? If this were true, we would be accusing FIFA too. The accusation from DIS wasn't accepted in Brazil, but it was in Madrid ....

You didn't make any mistakes when sorting out the transfer? Would you do it the same way again?

The signing was completely legitimate.

What has been the best of these 1,000 days in Barcelona?

The day of the Champions final. It's a beautiful story: the boy who dreamed about this club, who loves it, who dreamed of winning a Champions with this team, and was awarded a goal in the final. If we had imagined a story like this years ago, it wouldn't have been as beautiful, as perfect, as the reality. But it came true, it happened, and it was one of the best moments in Neymar's career. Of these 1,000 days, the Champions has become something to remember for many years.

€190 million from United. Is that the only offer that you've had?

Barça received that proposal last summer and turned it down. These proposals are starting to appear again now, and Barça is preparing to reject them, prevent them. But not only for Neymar, also for Messi, Suárez...

But Neymar is 24 years old. A club could consider it.

He's very young, yes, he has this in his favor. But he is happy with Barça. People can relax.

Has Real Madrid enquired?

They haven't contacted us. And I'd say not with the club, either. These are speculations that the player has lived with since he was 16. Now we have more experience. We have to wait until May or June, we have time to talk. What's more, Barça has a financial problem, and we have to understand the position they're in.

Is Neymar’s playing style provocative?

When fans come to the stadium they come to see a spectacle, talent. Each player has his own style, but those who love football want to see players like Messi, Cristiano, Suárez, Iniesta, Busquets... they have to be protected, not threatened. We've seen this with Zidane, Maradona... Are we playing football, or American football? That is another kind of spectacle, another sport. These players are different, they are an inspiration for other players. Players like Messi, Neymar, Cristiano are necessary, so that they can continue to inspire and make this sport the success it is around the world.

What do you imagine for the next 1,000 days?

My big challenge is to give him a sense of calm, so that he only needs to think about and enjoy playing football, so that he remains happy, as he is in Barcelona right now. This has always been my goal, from the first day, as a father and as a businessman. To provide the best management, professionally and personally. He has a contract for two more years, so it's up to me to put out fires, put an end to these stories of his signing, clear up everything so that he can live in peace and keep working.