For Questions, Enquiries, 
José Pérez
Watching too much football lately.
18w ago
The problem for Neymar is that Messi is too damn good, and is showing no signs of a significant decline in form.
When Barca signed Neymar four years ago, the plan was to groom him as Messi’s successor and have him become the star of the club once Messi declined. The “problem” is that Messi hasn’t declined, and is showing no signs of declining significantly in the next 2–3 years.
Neymar put 2 and 2 together, and understood that at his current age of 25, he would probably become Barca’s undisputed star—and thus have the option to fight for individual prices like the Ballon D’Or—by the time he’s closer to 30, when his physical state will most likely be in decline.
Therefore, when PSG, a club with almost unlimited resources that was close to becoming a real Champions League contender, offered him the opportunity to become the highest paid footballer in the world as well as the star of the club NOW, he chose to join them.
Independently of the way PSG has built up its ridiculously expensive squad, it will be very interesting to see if this project, led mostly by Neymar and Mbappe, will be able to successfully challenge the dominance of the big three European teams—Real Madrid, Bayern, and Barcelona—in the following years.
Sandeep Singh
I live for football.
18w ago
It’s not about him creating a new identity. It’s about the fan base of Barcelona and also the management and how they have always treated him. There are reports that Neymar was promised he was the heir apparent to Messi and he will be the focal point of their plans but nothing of that sort happened. He always had to play second fiddle to Messi.
Coming to the fans, I always tell that Neymar made the decision to go, after Barcelona made that historical comeback against PSG. Neymar was the architect of that win as he scored two goals and created another in less than ten minutes. Despite being the architect behind the victory, Barca based newspapers decided to include images of Messi celebrating on their pages. Most Barca fans also put up Messi’s images on their social media.
It then dawned on him that while he remained a Barcelona player, he would never be the club's main man regardless of what he achieved on the football pitch. Neymar was aware of PSG's interest at that point - they had tried to sign him the previous summer - and supposedly then decided that a new adventure in France was needed. It’s a new project.
Messi gets a God like treatment at Barca, which he clearly deserves, for all that he has done for the club till now. But that doesn’t mean you will not credit other players for the team’s success. When the team gets success, Messi carried the team to the finals. When the team fails, his team mates are not just good enough. This is plain stupid.
105 – The number of times Neymar hit the back of the net in all competitions during his Barcelona career. Rivaldo is the only Brazilian to have scored more for the club (130).
59 – Add in this impressive number of assists and the 25-year-old was involved in 164 goals in his 186 appearances for the club.
22 – Neymar set up more goals for Messi than any other team-mate during his time at the club.
21 – The amount of assists supplied by the former Santos star in 2016-17, more than any other player based in La Liga. Neymar was the highest assist maker in Champions League last season (2016/17).
15 – Neymar won a total of 15 penalties for Barca during his La Liga career; only Cristiano Ronaldo (17) has earned more spot-kicks in the competition.
These are huge numbers. You can’t ignore them. Barca won eight titles during his four season stay at the Camp Nou, with an average of two titles a season. And Neymar was a principal contributor in each campaign.
He never got the love of the fans that he so craved for. He wanted to be the main man at Barcelona but he could not climb the ladder. May be there was no ladder in the first place. After all, Messi is only 30. He will surely play at the top level for five more years and Neymar realized that this will go on. So, he wanted out. Regardless of what anyone says, it’s a smart decision.
Going by the fans’ reaction, you can tell he was at the wrong club. People burning his jerseys (their loss), saying he will never win the Ballon d’Or (as if they can predict the future), abusing him and his parents (reflects their values) and wishing Barca draw PSG again in the UCL so that they can teach Neymar a lesson (Dream on!). PSG thrashed Barca 4–0. And now the only reason that comeback was possible has joined them too. Not just him, players like Draxler, Mbappe and Dani Alves too.
On paper, PSG look so strong now. I hope the wishes of these Barca fans come true. Let them play PSG again. We will sit back and enjoy.
Anjishnu Roy
Writer at SoccerSouls (2017-present)
18w ago
Of course in Barcelona, Lionel Messi is the main man. He is their heartbeat. It’s true that Messi took Neymar under his wing and the two formed a glorious duo, but no, Neymar could never have been the successor to Messi, in my opinion.
Neymar’s ego problems have already surfaced in PSG with the latest clash with Cavani over a penalty. Neymar might be a wonderful footballer but he isn’t mature enough. He is not a role model off the pitch.
Johann Cruyff once said, “A ship cannot have two captains” and it’s true, as long as Messi plays for Barcelona, no other player can even come close to match his otherworldly status. I mean, think about it, Leo has been brought up in Barcelona, played in the youth ranks, played with the same club throughout life and went on to dominate the world in the Blaugrana colours. The adulation people have for him is unadulterated, unrivaled and in all fairness, well deserved.
Bharath Thakur
studied at Deeksha Center For Learning
18w ago
He could have but it would have taken him a long time.
Neymar is one of the most loved player who played for Barca. He should have been off Messi’s shadows the day Barca beat PSG 6–1. He was part of 4 goals out of the 6 goals that were scored that night by Barca and yet this picture was sensationalized. The picture is amazing but maybe didn’t go down too well with Neymar and hence moved away.
Michael Kane
17w ago
No for a few reasons.
The Barca players seem to pass to Messi more than Neymar, possibly because they have played together longer.
Messi’s positioning clogs the center of the field and creates less space for Neymar, Neymar is an amazing player when he gets more space to work with. He can’t do it with 6 players sitting at the top of the box because Messi doesn’t provide any width when he was playing right wing.
Messi takes most of the penalties and free kicks. Neymar still doesn’t get penalties at PSG, but I don’t think he knew that going in.
Any team with multiple superstars are going to have to share goals and chances, so it’s only natural that having 2 great creators on the same team is going to cause them each to have lesser stats.
Singh Sashi
studied at Army Public School, Kota
18w ago
Every era belongs to one great player, we are privileged to be in an era of two great players. No matter how much we criticise Ronaldo or Messi but one can’t deny from the fact that they both are phenomenal in their respective role.
Neymar is also a phenomenal player but the only difference is consistency. Being best is one thing and being best consistently is another thing. The fact that Messi is at his best consistently makes him different from Neymar.
In 2014–15 and 2015–16 Neymar scored 22 and 24 goals respectively but in 2016–17 that number dropped drastically to just 13 goals whereas Messi has scored fewer than 30 goals just two times since 2009(28 goals in 2013/14 and 26 goals in 2015/16). In 2011/12 season he scored mind boggling 50 goals. (G.O.A.T for a reason).
Till Neymar himself achieve stats close to these he have to remain in the shadows of Messi(and also Ronaldo) no matter which team he is in.
Gautam Hoshing
studied Computer Engineering at Savitribai Phule Pune University (2017)
18w ago
Neymar,Messi had a great relationship both on and off the pitch which would clearly reflect their understanding in the game. To remove yourself from the one whom you idolized and amdire and who is a great friend of you is tuff right. I think neymar was unhappy with the board or with his contract that triggered his move to psg.Another reason would be neymar wanted to become the best No 10 with Messi arround there was no chance plus he wanted to win ballon-dor which was not possible with players like Messi Suarez arround.I think he should have stayed at Barcelona and and develop himself and learn from messi,Suarez and other players but money and the greed to win takes over that's why he would never stay at barcelona.
Zia Malik
17w ago
Yes he could have stayed at Barca but then he would have never got chance to get the top position as it is dominantly ruled by the magician. Neymar is a very ambitious sportsman, he does not want to settle on 2nd or 3rd world best , he wants to challenge himself, he wants to take a chance to go on top as an individual, which was possible only when he comes out of messi’s shadow.
I am not sure if he can beat Messi and Ronaldo to go on top but one thing is for sure he has created a chance for himself. Which takes lot of guts and risks. After watching few of his PSG matches I think he is ready to give it all, he looks confident and in great touch.
Last not the least, he is nominated for FIFA player of the year alongside Messi and Ronaldo.
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