How David Neres is living up to his wonderkid tag at Napoli | OneFootball

Back in the late 2010s, David Neres was widely considered one of the finest wonderkids on the globe. Now an important, brace-grabbing match winner with Napoli in the Supercoppa Italiana final over Bologna, the 28-year-old Brazilian looks to be living up to the hype that preceded him.

Neres’ status as an exciting youth talent

Such was his formative wing wizardry, David Neres was quickly snatched away from his hometown club Sao Paulo in 2017 after just 11 all-competition matches.

The 19-year-old moved to Ajax in January of that year, and quickly made the Amsterdammers’ reported fee of €12 million look like a savvy investment. He had a steady start in 2016-17, with three goals in eight Eredivisie games. However, the next campaign was where he properly broke out, scoring 14 goals in 32 league outings.

In short, Neres developed into a real Ajax favourite in his six-season stay, helping them seal three Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups, and a Johan Cruyff Shield. In that period, he won over the fans with superb individual displays amongst an exciting side, crafting magic moments with his flair on the ball, immense control, and a wicked left foot.

One of many highlights came in 2018-19’s magical Champions League season. In a real UCL classic, he notched goal number two in a 4-1 rout of Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, helping Ajax win the Round of 16 tie 5-3 on aggregate.

At his peak in the Dutch capital, Neres batted off interest from the likes of Manchester United and Atletico Madrid to commit to the Dutch giants.

However, after a serious knee injury required an arduous months-long recovery, his star would ultimately fade in the Low Country as Ajax found new wing options. In 2022, Neres left the Netherlands for Shakhtar Donetsk, in a move that was somewhat more obscure than expected, and hardly one fitted his earlier promising status.

Throwing it forward to now

After a stint in Ukraine and then in Portugal with Benfica, David Neres finds himself perhaps back at the level he belongs with the Neapolitans, and that has culminated with his performance against Bologna in Riyadh.

Neres took viewers back to the Ajax days, as he scored two excellent goals in Napoli’s 2-0 win over the Rossoblu. His first effort was a shot of pure brilliance to punctuate a relatively unassuming first half for the Scudetto holders and add to a goal in the semis against Milan.

In the 38th minute, he shifted onto his left foot about 25 yards out and whipped a delightful effort past Federico Ravaglia and just inside the left post.

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Things only got better in the second half, as just before the hour, Neres robbed Jhon Lucumi on the right of the box after a dismal Ravaglia pass out. He kept his cool and sealed his MOTM status by dinking the desperate keeper.

Although Neres may not be in the upper echelons that he was once tipped for, the Brazilian maestro is in the right hands at Napoli. He must kick on from this performance as he continues to come full circle and shrug off the weighty ‘wonderkid’ label.

GIFN | Max Bradfield