According to Neymar, there is a case for splitting the Ballon d’Or three ways this year.
Or, rather, he suggested on learning that he would for the first time figure among the leading trio of nominees for an award held since 2008 by either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, that it be shared, given collectively to Barcelona's strikers.
He, Messi and Luis Suarez have for much of 2015 been provoking debate about whether or not they form the greatest forward line in modern history, and though Neymar’s idea was not uttered in the serious expectation that would happen, he has enjoyed being a part of that debate.
Photo gallery: Barcelona's Neymar makes his case for 2015 Ballon d'Or award
Neymar’s emphasis on the collective is becoming his instinctive response to questions put to him about his stunning form in what has been a landmark year for the 23 year old.
Since he began 2015 on the Barcelona bench on a controversial evening at San Sebastian, where Barcelona, with Messi and Neymar named only as replacements by a grumpy Barca coach Luis Enrique, lost to Real Sociedad, he has established himself as provider and finisher par excellence, and studiously drawn attention to his qualities of self-sacrifice, as a team player above all.
There is an element of rebranding in that. Neymar spent much of 2014 on his own personal podium, the standout superstar of a Brazil hosting the World Cup, poster boy for a country and a generation, as if it were his birthright to steer the most decorated national team in history to triumph in front of their own compatriots.
When he suffered a back injury in the quarter-final, Brazil’s slender hopes of making good on that ambition seemed utterly extinguished.
It was not his fault, but he felt the deflation of a dream.
Neymar’s maturity in coping with that setback, and all the pressures that crowded in on him as an icon for Brazilians, will have been in the minds of some of the voters who have judged him among the top three individuals in the sport.
They recognise his journey from prodigy to outstanding senior professional has meant overcoming some uncomfortable hurdles on and off the field.
The Ballon d’Or is essentially a popularity contest, its electorate drawn from within the game.
Read about the other Ballon d’Or award candidates:
Xavi says Barcelona’s Lionel Messi is ‘greatest player ever’ and deserves Ballon d’Or award
Cristiano Ronaldo, rewriting history for Real Madrid, deserves Ballon d’Or over Barcelona rivals
You could name a few footballers who 12 months ago would have felt reluctant to cast a vote for Neymar’s pre-eminence.
Ask in the dressing room of Atletico Madrid, for example, a workplace with a high concentration of tough, feisty men, and they would talk about a bumptious taunter, whose use of his talent has strayed too often into showing off and crossed the line that preserves respect for a rival.
Some at Rayo Vallecano would say the same, as Rayo’s players were enraged during Neymar’s second season in Spain by the way he celebrated goals in a routine beating by Barcelona.
There will always be some flashiness in Neymar’s football because one of his fortes is mastering the one on one then dribbling past a marker, and finding inventive ways of doing so.
But the superfluous, showy provocations are rarer than they used to be.
Neymar is a child of his time, a social media phenomenon whose profile is studiously cared for by a team of employees. He was still a teenager when the word “Neymarketing” was coined in Brazil, but as he approaches his mid-20s he conducts himself more and more conscious that humility is an appreciated quality.
He has been wearing his hair much shorter lately. Time was that a new, flamboyant cut would appear almost every month.
His transfer from Santos to Barcelona in 2013 continues to generate headlines. Barcelona misled their supporters about the real fee, and Barca president Sandro Rosell stepped down as revelations about the details of the deal emerged.
Neymar’s father, to whom he is very close, is facing investigations from Spanish tax authorities. Yet amid all this, Neymar jnr, as the player still refers to himself, has played with focus and consistent effectiveness.
He ended 2015 level with Ronaldo at second in the Pichichi rankings for the Primera Liga’s leading scorer in a season, both one goal behind Suarez.
This has also been a prize dominated for the past five years by Ronaldo or Messi, but with his 14 goals from 13 games so far in the current campaign, Neymar is ahead of his illustrious Argentine teammate.
Messi missed almost two months injury, and it was in that period that Neymar, week in, week out, reassured barcelonistas and Luis Enrique he had the poise, the temperament and the match-winning skills to ensure standards would not drop in Messi’s absence.
Through that time, from September to November, he stayed deferent, too.
Neymar, more than any incoming star striker who preceded him at a club where Messi has emerged as the most influential player of all time, has become expert at doffing his cap to the Argentinian, in a way the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thierry Henry never did.
He may have to bow to Messi again in Zurich next month, but he has plenty of time to come back again as a Ballon d’Or contender, and at his current rate, to attend the gala as the favourite to win.
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