Neymar da Silva, gifted Brazilian confirms he will sign five-year deal with Spanish giants for undisclosed sum, reported to be $36.12m.

The 21-year-old striker chose Barcelona on Saturday over their Spanish arch-rivals Real Madrid after Santos ended three years of resisting offers for Neymar and let him go before next year's tournament in Brazil.

"On Monday I'm signing a contract with Barcelona," Neymar said on his Instagram page and Twitter account.

"I want to thank the Santos fans for nine incredible years."

Neymar has been a first-team regular for Santos for the past four years, scoring 156 goals and providing 77 assists in 256 matches.

He guided them in 2011 to their first Copa Libertadores triumph since when Pele represented the club in the 1960s, and he has already established himself at international level, scoring 20 times in 32 appearances with Brazil.

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