David Neres


David Neres Campos is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Dutch club Ajax and the Brazil national team. He often plays as a winger.

Club career

São Paulo

Born in São Paulo, Neres joined São Paulo's youth setup in September 2007, aged ten. In February 2016, after being regularly used in that year's U-20 Copa Libertadores, he suffered a shoulder injury which kept him sidelined for months.
Neres was promoted to the main squad by manager Ricardo Gomes in August 2016. He made his first team – and Série A debut – on 17 October, coming on as a second-half substitute for Robson in a 2–1 away win against Fluminense.
On 22 October 2016 Neres scored his first goal, netting the last in a 2–0 home win against Ponte Preta. Fourteen days later he scored his second goal, netting the second in a 4–0 home routing of local rival Corinthians.

Ajax

On 30 January 2017, Neres moved to the Dutch club Ajax for a reported fee of €12 million.

2016–17 season

Neres made his debut for Ajax against Heracles Almelo, on 26 February 2017. In that season, he managed to get 3 goals in 8 league matches. He also featured in an Ajax team that went to the UEFA Europa League final that year.

2017–18 season

Neres managed to get 14 goals and 13 assists in 32 league matches, making him the most valuable player of Ajax that year, having scored the most goals and assists combined.
Neres himself sees the game against Feyenoord, on 22 October 2017, as his breakthrough, where he racked up three assists in a 4–1 away win.

2018–19 season

In his third season, Neres scored his first official European goal against Standard Liège in the second leg of the third qualifying round of the Champions League. In that year, Neres wasn't guaranteed a starting spot up until February. Because of this, there were rumours that Neres wanted to leave. In January, Guangzhou Evergrande made a £36.9 million bid on Neres, but Ajax ultimately refused, because they wanted to keep the team together to win prizes that year and make it far in the UEFA Champions League. In the second leg in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League, in a memorable game against Real Madrid, Neres scored the second goal to give Ajax the lead on aggregate, and the Dutch side eventually won a by a margin of 5–3, thus knocking the three-time defending European champions out of the competition.
On 31 March 2019, Neres scored the winning goal and picked up a penalty in the championship clash against PSV, to win 3–1. He also scored an important equaliser against Juventus at home to secure hopes for Ajax's semi-final qualification in the first leg at home.
Neres won his first Eredivisie title as Ajax finished three points ahead of rivals PSV. Neres also won his first KNVB Cup when Ajax won 4–0 against Willem II in the final.

2019–20 season

Despite reported interest from the likes of Manchester United and Atlético Madrid, Neres signed a new contract with Ajax on 7 August 2019 that runs through 2023. The deal added a further year to his prior deal that was set to expire in 2022.

International career

On 8 March 2019, he received his first senior team call-up by coach Tite for the Brazil national football team, replacing an injured Vinícius Júnior, for the friendlies against Panama and the Czech Republic to be held later that month. Neres made his senior team debut against Czech Republic on 26 March 2019, in the 63rd minute as a replacement for Richarlison. In that game, he made an assist and produced a backheel which led to a goal, contributing to two goals in the 3–1 win against Czech Republic.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.9 June 2019Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, Brazil5–07–0Friendly

Honours

São Paulo
Ajax
Brazil
Individual