Media outlets have been awash over the past couple of weeks of possible unrest in the Barcelona dressing room. The bone of contention was speculated to be the wages earned between star players, Lionel Messi and Neymar.
The Brazilian superstar arrived Barcelona in 2013, in a highly publicised but yet shady transfer deal, which have all been revealed by investigators and prosecutors. Perhaps, the actual value of Neymar’s switch from Santos to the European heavyweights will never be known due to the complexity of the deal.
Neymar reportedly earned more than Lionel Messi when he arrived Barcelona, in a deal brokered by then President Sandro Rosell. Messi was later reported to have found out and naturally was unhappy, leading to a transfer request.
To make the Argentine superstar happy once again, he was given a new contract in July, reportedly worth a whooping £500,000 weekly. This somewhat made Neymar unhappy, as he felt the club had gone against their earlier agreement, thus the transfer speculations began.
There is a widely accepted school of thought, which says Neymar will never fulfil his potentials in a Barcelona shirt, with the continued presence of Messi in the line-up, added to his flamboyance on-and-off the pitch, which the Barcelona faithful’s haven’t taken kindly to. The Brazilian thus far has played in the shadows of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, which might be an unfair assessment considering the abundance of talent the exciting 25-year-old possesses.
A world record £196.5million transfer to PSG only surfaced obviously due to the French giant’s willingness to meet Neymar’s astronomical buy-out clause. But the big question is, will Neymar be a hit at PSG? Making a move to the French capital might be unanimously viewed as a step-down in a once promising career, of a player potentially tipped to be voted best player in the world in a few years’ time.
Given Unai Emery’s struggles at PSG in his first season, and also doubts about his abilities at a top club, Neymar might best be advised to stay put at Barcelona for the foreseeable future, accept to play second fiddle to Messi, despite his obvious desires to be at par recognition and pay grade level.
Hopefully, someday he will be remembered in the same breath as the likes of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho, all Brazilian greats who left a lasting impression at Barcelona.
