5 Cautionary Starlet Busts for Neymar to Remember

He is one of the new breed of superstars in world football, and he surely stands on the verge of a big summer move to Europe, but can Neymar really afford to think that he's made it just yet?

The 21-year-old has an impressive 32 caps and 20 goals for Brazil, but he surely knows the weight of expectation that would come with a change of continents this summer.

So often in the past we've seen pressure heaped on young players who simply aren't up to performing under it, and Neymar himself must have heard of the many stories of Brazilian players who have failed to live up the enormous hype placed upon them.

Here are some cautionary tales for the Santos Samba star:

Denilson

Left-winger Denilson was just a humble 20-year-old when ambitious Real Betis smashed the world record transfer fee by bringing him to Spain from Sao Paulo for a then staggering amount of £21.5 million in 1998.

By the end of his second season, the club had been relegated.

Failing to live up to the hype generated upon his arrival, Denilson struggled and even went back to Brazil for a loan spell with Flamengo, but he did return to help Betis out of the Segunda Division and back into La Liga.

He was part of the Brazil squad that won the 2002 World Cup, but the waning of his talents had seen him become somewhat of a sideshow, and the latter years of his career where spent bouncing around teams in France, Brazil, the USA, Vietnam and Greece.

Without a club since 2010, he has now retired aged 35.

Keirrison

Still on the books at Barcelona despite never having played for them, things haven't quite worked out as 24-year-old Keirrison will have been expecting.

A goalscoring revelation with Cortiba in Brazil, Keirrison briefly moved to Palmeiras before being snapped up by Barca in a multi-million deal in 2009.

The fact that he was immediately loaned to Benfica was no surprise given the wealth of attacking talent at the Nou Camp, but it kick-started four years of temporary moves, which will have left the forward feeling a little like a travelling salesman.

Unfortunately, Benfica, Fiorentina, Santos and Cruzeiro didn't see the benefit of many goals, and he's now been loaned back to first club Cortiba for the remainder of his Barca contract.

It's safe to say he won't be getting another one.

Kerlon

A star for Cruzeiro of Belo Horizonte (whose stadium is pictured), Kerlon found YouTube fame with his astonishing "seal dribble," which involved balancing the ball on his head as he ran, often drawing vicious fouls from opponents in the process.

This was apparently enough evidence for both Chievo and Inter Milan to enter into a joint-ownership agreement for him in 2008, but he only played four times for the former and never for the latter.

A brief loan spell at Ajax didn't bring much luck either, and the former Brazil under-20 star was soon heading back on loan spells to his native land.

Still just 25, he can currently be found in the Japanese third division.

Whether the seal dribble has followed him there is unknown.

Alexandre Pato

A harsh inclusion perhaps, but when Pato burst onto the scene so impressively, did we really expect to see him back playing in Brazil at the age of just 23?

"The Duck" has had terrible injury problems, of course, but following 63 goals in 150 games for AC Milan the fact that he now finds himself at Corinthians is a shame for those in Europe who enjoyed watching him.

Of course, his current side are one of the biggest on his continent, and he is undoubtedly happy there, but there remains the possibility that he can give so much more the European game.

Let's hope that comes true.

Cherno Samba

Not Brazilian but with a Brazilian-sounding surname, Cherno Samba serves as a reminder to all that too much hype can be a bad thing.

A name familiar to football fans through computer games such as Championship Manager, Samba was tipped for great things as a youngster at Millwall, with his club even turning down a £1.5 million offer from Gerard Houllier's Liverpool when he was just a schoolboy.

Samba reached England under-20 level but for various reasons never progressed beyond that.

He never played for Millwall's first team, before moves to Cadiz, Malaga's B team, Plymouth Argyle, Wrexham, Finland's FC Haka and Greece Panetolikos produced just one senior goal.

Now 27 years old, he was most recently spotted in the Norwegian second division with FK Tonsberg.

Neymar, take note.