Neymar Jr. doesn’t want to return to Paris Saint-Germain’s training facility ever again according to a laughably ridiculous article from Sport.
The cover of the Catalan publication featured a photo of Neymar and the headline, “Neymar is Already Preparing His Departure.” I guess when there’s no football to write about you have to dig up the Neymar narrative once again.
Essentially, the article by Joaquim Piera makes the case (without quoting anyone by name) that the situation with Neymar will take off when a decision is made regarding the UEFA Champions League. If the tournament is canceled, Neymar will begin to push for a move back to FC Barcelona. If it’s moved until August, Neymar will compete for PSG but also work behind the scenes to facilitate a transfer.
Piera mentions the loss to Borussia Dortmund in the first leg as an example as to why Neymar wants to leave. The PSG superstar was critical of the club for not allowing him to play leading up to the match and he claimed the decision had a major impact on his performance.
The article also focuses on Neymar’s return to Brazil during the coronavirus crisis and that his leaving Paris while Marquinhos remained showed that the defender is committed to the team while Neymar is looking to exit whenever possible.
OK, now that we have Sport‘s point of view covered, let’s really dissect the situation.
Neymar is under contract until 2022 and no FIFA bylaw is going to allow him to get out of that contract early. Previous reports have indicated that PSG would be willing to sell Neymar but not for anything less than €150 million.
Barcelona’s financial situation is not great and neither is their current squad. After the influx of cash from the sale of Neymar, the La Liga giants have absolutely botched nearly every signing in the years since and their team is bloated with overpriced players who are underperforming.
The upcoming transfer window will be especially difficult to sign a single player for more than €100 million due to the financial impact of the coronavirus. To think Barcelona could pull it off in their current state is laughable.
Neymar’s friendship with Kylian Mbappé appears to be just as strong as any friendship he has at Barcelona. Mbappé is also more talented than every player at Barcelona not named Lionel Messi but how many years does Messi really have left in his legs?
Along with Mbappé, PSG’s squad is full of world-class players and unlike Barcelona, their financial situation isn’t a mess and once the transfer window opens up, I expect Leonardo, PSG’s sporting director, to be very active.
In my opinion, the only departure Neymar is preparing for is from Brazil to Paris where he will hopefully lead PSG to the club’s first Champions League title in team history.
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