Fans of football legend Neymar have been given an inside view of how he is spending Christmas with an astonishing video of the decorations going up at his luxury mansion in Brazil.
The crocked star, recovering from an agonising knee injury, was determined to make this year’s celebration a cracker.
So he hired a small army of tree trimmers and decorators from Sao Paulo’s poshest home decoration store Arte Flor to turn his luxury home into a VIP grotto.
A video of the transformation shows box after box of decorations arriving on a huge truck with a team of interior designer experts.
The star’s huge sitting room is the perfect setting for a huge tree decorated with golden silhouettes of Neymar in his trademark number 10 shirt.
And instead of a star or a fairy, Neymar’s breathtaking tree is topped by a huge seasonal Nutcracker.
Around it is a mini Scandinavian forest with lifesized models of reindeer and a massive plush teddy bear wearing a Santa outfit.
Pride of place, though, goes to a more traditional massive Santa whose hat brushes the double-height ceiling in the room.
During filming, a clearly delighted Neymar can be seen hobbling around on crutches helping to direct the work on 15th November.
Designer Yuri Socuta later told Newsflash: “Neymar was super cool and welcoming, he was there all the time watching the assembly.
“He had to leave at times, but he did all this monitoring, he was super attentive. It was a dream come true.”
He added: “It was a quick production, a production that lasted from 11 am until 6 pm. During this period we managed to set up two environments.
“We set up two Christmas trees over three and a half metres tall.
“We created a setting with reindeer, other smaller trees, we produced decorated festoons and garlands, we placed inflatables like a reindeer, a five-metre-tall Santa Claus, among others.
“We also placed a four-metre-tall one, a bear, so we really did this whole production of a Christmas scene.”
Socuta went on: “We set up two spaces in his house, a traditional one with a more Christmassy feel, in a golden red colour with inflatable reindeer, and another room in another space with a lighter tree.
“A classic, a tree with a more neutral colour that was champagne with gold, was a more elegant tree. We did all this work in a period of practically seven hours.”
Neymar is currently recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in November.
The star was stretchered off at the end of the first half of Brazil’s 2-0 World Cup qualifier loss to Uruguay in October.
And if anyone is wondering how Neymar can afford such lavish decorations, he earns USD 1.7 million a week from his USD 175 million deal with mega-rich Saudi club Al Hilal.
