Neymar says he is excited by the prospect of playing alongside Lionel Messi at Barcelona.

The 21-year-old striker flew to Barcelona on Monday morning to sign a five-year contract with the Catalan giants, with 57million euros (£48,600,000) going to Santos nine days after a preliminary agreement between the clubs was made public.

Thousands of fans and hundreds of journalists awaited Neymar's arrival on the Camp Nou pitch and, after parading his ball skills and the new Blaugrana shirt, the Brazilian admitted treading the turf where Argentinian forward Messi has developed into the envy of world football was overwhelming.

He told fcbarcelona.es: "The thrill of being cheered when I entered the Nou Camp... it was hard not to cry. My dream has come true.

"I've never worried about being the best in the world. The best is already here and that's Messi.

"I'm one of the luckiest men in the world to be able to play with him and it's an honour. I'm very happy to be realising my life's dream.

"To have the opportunity to play with great players I admire like Messi, Xavi and (Andres) Iniesta... I've begun a new stage of my life and I'm going to be very happy and achieve a lot."

Neymar added: "Barca and Real Madrid are two great clubs. I was happy that both wanted me but my heart was with Barca.

"It was a family decision but I had the final word, and none of us were motivated by money. I don't work for the money and I don't worry about the numbers.

"I'm going to adapt really quickly to European football so I can help the Barca cause."