Maybe in 2013, maybe in 2014, but it seems that eventually, Barcelona football club will get their hands on Neymar, despite his media-silence regarding his future after his contract with Santos expires, right after the World Cup in Brazil.

That is, if you believe the media outlets in Spain and Brazil, who are pretty sure that despite Santos not really wanting to sell the 21 year old, actually working on securing him on another long term deal until 2018 with a release clause that will earn them quite a bit of money, the Brazilian star will eventually become a Barca player.

Neymar is enjoying an incredible start to the Paulista championship, scoring 12 goals in the first 13 matches, improving his scoring record over the last four seasons to 121 goals in 167 matches. More often than not, it simply seems that the Brazilian league is a bit too small for his talents. Sometimes it feels like he’s actually bored with the idea of playing in Brazil, coming up with new ways of taunting defenders, usually leading to vicious fouls that as of yet haven’t left him injured.

Santos don’t want to sell Neymar under his current contract because he’s worth more to them on the team due to his economic rights mostly belonging to a third-side party, the plague of Brazilian football which does allow for higher salaries, but keeps transfer fees away from the clubs. By securing him to a new deal after this one expires in 2014, Santos can make it a certainty they’ll make some money off of him instead of watching him leave to Europe without a transfer fee coming their way.

Neymar? He’s quiet. He keeps saying he’ll honor his contract and won’t push for a European transfer until after the 2014 World Cup, but the pressure that’s pushing him towards the world’s biggest clubs keeps growing. Barcelona and their South America representatives are working hard on trying to secure some sort of informal agreement with the player, while the usual trick of having the club’s own players, like Messi, Iniesta and Xavi calling him through the media to come and play with them is soon to be deployed.

Just a matter of time? Barcelona don’t usually try to go after too many players, but when they do, it’s hard to see them not eventually getting their man.