Various media outlets, including AS English, are reporting that Neymar and PSG have come to an agreement which will see the Brazilian international leaving the Ligue 1 champions next summer for a fee in the region of €200m, around £2om less than what the French side paid for him in 2017.

The Spanish press believe that La Liga superpowers FC Barcelona and Real Madrid both want to bring the attacker back to Spain.

If the flamboyant forward does indeed leave Paris in the summer, without clinching a Champions League title during his stint at Les Parisens, then his deal in my opinion should be classed as a failure.

Now if you look at the stats, from Whoscored, then you’ll no doubt come to the conclusion that Neymar is certainly a world class performer.  This season alone; the Brazilian has scored ten Ligue 1 goals in eleven games, he’s also created five assists, he makes around 3.4 shots per game and 2.9 key passes too.

The twenty-six year old also has three goals in his four Champions League outings.

Yet if you dig a wee bit deeper you’ll notice that the twenty-six year old isn’t always at his best in the big games, well that’s if he’s not injured.

He didn’t score against French rivals Olyimpique de Marseille earlier in the campaign. While his three European strikes came in the one match against group minnows Red Star Belgrade. Neymar was pretty tame in the games against Napoli and Liverpool.

During this summer’s World Cup, the forward will be remembered more for his diving antics rather than for his goals. He only scored twice and wasn’t able to produce any magic in Brazil’s 2-1 loss to Belgium in the Quarter Final stage of the competition.

While he’s a joy to watch when he’s dribbling at opponents or curling the ball beyond goalkeepers, he can also be a frustrating watch if he spits the dummy out after being kicked or when he’s getting a yellow card for petulance.

The player has also been a bit of a distraction. He’s had fallouts with mangers and on the field with Uruguayan hitman Edinson Cavani.

The main thing and most important thing we should judge Neymar on is his ability to take PSG closer to a Champions League trophy.

When I look back at Neymar’s signing on the BBC Sport website, one statement sticks out for me:

“Barcelona and Catalonia will always be in my heart but I need a new challenge. PSG offered a bold new way forward and I’m ready. Right now I feel in my heart that it’s time to go.”

That new challenge had to be to do something new that had never been done before at PSG and that’s win Uefa’s most elite club competition.

He’s not been able to do that. They’re sitting third in their group and might not reach the knock-stages for the first time in years,

So why would PSG sell? 

Probably because they don’t need the headache of having someone who hasn’t been too much of a team player in Paris. He just doesn’t seem to work as hard at the Parc des Princes as he did at the Camp Nou or he does in a Brazilian shirt.

The French champs also have one Kylian Mbappe. The World Cup winner is still just nineteen, yet he’s scored more and created the same amount of assists as Neymar even though he’s played less so far this term!

Mbappe doesn’t have the same cocky swagger as his counterpart but he has just as much ability, some might say he’s got more potential that his teammate.

Plus let’s say Neymar goes back to Spain, what does that say about his ambition?

He stated that he left Barca because he needed a new challenge, he won everything worth winning when in Catalonia. So why go back?

It was suggested he wanted to show that he could be a winner away from Lionel Messi’s shadow, has he really did that? I don’t think so. If he goes back to Barcelona, then surely he understands that he’s going right back into the darkness of Lionel’s shadow.

Without a Champions League winners medal, then Neymar will depart PSG as a flop in my eyes. He didn’t pass the main test and if he goes back to Spain then he’s just returning to the secure easy lifestyle that comes with being Messi’s sidekick!

Posted on November 27th, 2018 by scott
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