Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior strolled from the hotel bathroom, towel around his waist, to find the fiery seductress in his bedroom. He freaked out and grabbed the telephone to call security. But she ripped it from him and slammed the receiver down. There was a wildness about her eyes.

The scene came from earlier in the week but it was not a part of real life. Neymar had made his guest debut in Globo TV's new soap opera Amor à Vida, and the joke was that the scriptwriters had erred in their quest for realism. Neymar would never have dialled security.

The notion that Brazil's top footballer, who this week transferred from Santos to Barcelona for around £50m and is braced to carry the host nation's hopes at their World Cup next summer, ought to indulge in a spot of semi-naked thespianism is ridiculous. But where Neymar is concerned, absolutely nothing seems off-limits. The lines are blurred.

The 21 year old is the cross-over prince of Brazilian pop culture and it feels as though his image is everywhere: from towering billboards to all sections of the newspapers, from music videos and talk shows to television commercials.

Switch on the television set at any time in Brazil and you do not have to wait long to see Neymar pushing one of the 13 brands that he endorses, from banks and brewers to underwear and men's fragrance. There is even a comic strip about him – the adventures of Neymarzinho, a little, smiling goalscorer with spiky hair, drawn by the cartoonist Mauricio de Souza.

In February Neymar became the first Brazilian athlete to appear on the cover of Time magazine while earlier in the month SportsPro magazine named him as the world's most marketable sportsperson for the second consecutive year. The criteria included value for money, which meant that the super-expensive David Beckham was marked down, but not even Goldenballs is as visible in his home continent as Neymar is in South America.

His fame is such that his every move is subjected to scrutiny and comment. "I cannot go anywhere without being recognised," the forward said, in an interview last year. "People even recognise me in New York. Strange things do happen. A guy once asked me if he could have my shirt. It wasn't even a Santos shirt. It was just a regular shirt."

Neymar, though, is hardly the shy and retiring type. He has lived under a burning spotlight since his days as a youth-team prodigy at Santos – he joined the club as an 11-year-old and made his first-team debut at 17 – and he is a person that likes to be seen. Although he does not drink, he loves to party. His look is Brazilian hip-hop. He is extrovert, gregarious and theatrical. In short, he is a born entertainer.

"My objective is to entertain," Neymar says. "That is the Brazilian mentality when it comes to football. I have always wanted to be a professional player like Pelé. He is a great role model. He played with joy."

Neymar has long carried the New Pelé tag, partly because the Brazil legend also started his career in the Santos youth ranks but mainly because of the echoes in playing style. There is the God-given touch; the audacious skill; the balance; the acceleration; the ruthless finishing.

It began for Neymar on the streets of São Vicente, when the goals were sandals and the ball sometimes little more than a rock. He also played futsal, the indoor, hard-court game and he developed an instinctive feel for the ball, as if it were an extension of his body. He is utterly two-footed.

It is typical of Neymar, though, that he should seek up-to-date inspiration. He says that he and Ganso, his former Santos team-mate, now at São Paulo, check out the dribbling moves of animated players on computer games and attempt to put them into practice.

Neymar was Ganso's best man at his wedding last week and the pair are extremely close. When Neymar became a father in August 2011, to Davi Lucca, Ganso was in the delivery room. The birth caused a stir because Neymar was not in a relationship with the little boy's mother but, unlike other footballers, he took the paternity test and has embraced the responsibility. Davi Lucca lives with his mother but is doted on by his father. Neymar's current girlfriend is the soap actress Bruna Marquezine.

The hyperbole that has tracked Neymar's career was best illustrated one month after he made his debut for Santos in 2009 when Pelé said that he would go on to eclipse his achievements in the game. Pelé is both his idol and champion. When discussing the claim to greatness of Lionel Messi, with whom Neymar will link up at Barcelona, Pelé said that "before being better than me Messi has to be better than Neymar, which he is not yet". Pelé is not alone. Ronaldinho said that he could not "explain how special Neymar will become," while Ronaldo has tipped him to be the best player in the world.

There have been controversies and tantrums. Neymar threw an almighty wobbly in 2010 after the Santos manager, Dorival Júnior, said that he could not take a penalty, which he had won. Neymar had to be restrained by a linesman. Dorival wanted to suspend him for 15 days; instead the club sacked Dorival. Neymar has also been dogged by accusations of diving.

But he has already hit the heights, most notably when he led Santos to the Copa Libertadores in 2011 – their first such triumph since that of Pelé's team in 1963. Neymar has three Paulista state championships, one Copa do Brazil and one Recopa – the equivalent of the European Super Cup. On the day he turned 20 he scored his 100th goal in professional football; he averages better than one in every two games. He was the South American Player of the Year in 2011 and 2012.

Europe is finally primed to see what the fuss is about. Neymar, set to play against England in Sunday's showpiece international at the Maracanã, will join Barcelona after the Confederations Cup in the last two weeks of June. He has been touted for a move to Europe since the age of 14 – when he first turned down Real Madrid – and Barcelona have pulled off a mouthwatering coup.

Neymar cried when he heard the Brazilian anthem before his final game for Santos last Sunday. "The movie of my life, since I was a little kid, came to my mind at that moment," he said.

It has been an award-winner. Neymar intends for the sequel to top it.