Brazilian magician and marketing gold

PARIS: His pre-teen skills bewitched internet users over a decade ago, and now Brazil's Neymar is set to dazzle in the French capital with his forecast world-record transfer to wannabe European power Paris Saint-Germain.

Neymar's projected move from giants Barcelona and the elite Spanish La Liga to continental underachieving PSG and the low-key Ligue 1 has raised eyebrows.

But the French club's Qatari owners are nothing if not ambitious, determined to sign Neymar as part of their drive to capture the Champions League.

And to transform PSG into a European super club, they had no hesitation in making 25-year-old Neymar the world's most expensive player of all-time for a fee that will more than double the previous record paid by Manchester United for Paul Pogba last summer.

PSG haven't agreed to pay such a massive amount solely for the undoubted attention and shirt sales that their new recruit will garner, but for one of the most gifted players on the planet.

And PSG will be fully expecting him to provide 40-plus goals a season in all competitions and to take the perennial European also-rans all the way to the final of the Champions League for the first time.

Everything moves fast in football, especially for the man who made his professional debut for Santos as a waif-like teenager just eight years ago and joined Barcelona in 2013.

The apprentice megastar has had to share the spotlight with team-mates Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at the Camp Nou, especially after injuring himself in the 2014 World Cup.

But his inspirational display in the thrilling climax of Barcelona's sensational 6-1 Champions League last-16, second-leg, comeback against PSG in March would have convinced the Ligue 1 giants that Neymar was worth the massive investment.

His pass for Sergi Roberto's winning goal was one of the highest quality, having kicked off the late flurry of goals with a glorious free-kick.