Neymar has said the thought he was inside a video game when he first arrived in the Barcelona dressing room in 2013.
Neymar, 25, signed for Barca from Santos for £75million, but he has admitted he was “ashamed” to speak to the likes of Lionel Messi as soon as he arrived.
The Brazil forward is now on a similar level to Messi and after signing a new five-year contract worth around €16million a year, with a buyout clause fixed at €200m for the first year of the deal, €222m for the second and the €250m for the remaining three years, he finally feels at home.
But in an interview with Brazilian television show Caldeirao do Huck, he explained how nervous and “intimidated” he was when he arrived as a 21-year-old.
“I came into the dressing room, looked to one side and there was Messi, I looked the other and there was Xavi [Hernandez], [Andres] Iniesta, [Gerard] Pique, Dani Alves … I thought I was inside a video game,” said Neymar.
“One day I was playing with them on the console and the next I was there alongside them. The first month was the most complicated. I was ashamed to speak to Messi, [he and the others] were idols for me. I was the new arrival and the youngest more or less.”
