When Neymar Jr goes out to play he turns the pitch into a huge canvas. He comes from the classic Brazilian school. The Barcelona No 11 is a prodigy of individual technique. His happiness, like with Garrincha, comes from dribbling.
Neymar, however, differs from his compatriots, by being the first "crack" from his country that has run his career so far in a 100 per cent professional way.
From when he exploded at Santos FC in 2010, at just 18, a project was organised around him to give him the fundamentals to go on and win a Ballon d'Or.
With his family company NR Sports, it wasn't just about image rights, but a comprehensive vision encompassing speech therapy, psychology, 'media training' and personalized fitness. 'Ney' was formed on and off the pitch.
"Neymar Jr is a perfectionist, sometimes it's better to say nothing because he's obsessed, he knows perfectly where he's gone wrong and can improve," said his coach at Santos, Muricy Ramalho.
The main challenge Ney had when arriving at Barcelona was not to compete with Messi, and much less stoke up memories of Ronaldo, Romario, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho. His opponent was himself. His process of adaptation was completely different to the 4Rs - all of them had come to the Camp Nou after playing for a different European club.
His professional environment took work. Neymar's father told SPORT: "Neymar Jr is a Brazilian footballer who comes from a culture that trains twice a day and plays many more game. The first year we realized that the culture of Europe is a single workout with more intensity, Neymar needed to know how the new system worked."
And after the first year, Neymar and his father decided to establish in Barcelona their own sports structure, with two professionls from Santos FC, whom they knew perfectly: Ricardo Rosa as a trainer and the physiotherapist Rafael Martini. They subsequently denied that the decision did not sit well with some of the Blaugrana coaching staff.
"We coordinated with Barcelona and introduced his own trainer and a physiotherapist, we judge it necessary to leave Neymar in the best possible physical condition along with the club and the results have come - Neymar has a higher percentage of finishes [in games], we managed to protect him from injuries," said his father.
"It is true that Neymar has gained muscle mass, but we are looking for other things, this structure is to prevent certain injuries occurring, preventive work is done."
Meanwhile, the forward was very receptive to the indications of the club. "The club nutritionist changed his diet," added his father. "Culturally this is something difficult for Brazilians, who have a base of rice and beans."
"Everything changes with respect to Brazil. Schedules, habits need to adapt and we have done everything possible to speed up this process, last year this was ok, we won the treble, and this year we go for more!"