According to Sport, FC Barcelona want to bring Neymar back to the Camp Nou.

The report suggests that the Catalan giants could be willing to add Ousmane Dembele into the deal as a makeweight and if I were Paris Saint-Germain I’d be willing to listen to such a deal as long as long as the La Liga winners also add at least £130m to the package.

I’m beginning to believe that Neymar is more of a distraction than anything else. The Brazilian superstar hasn’t made PSG better in the Champions League and that’s what he was brought in to do.

Yes he’s had injuries at important stages of campaigns but even with that he’s still a distraction as he parties away while his teammates toil.

Recent images from the Brazil camp show Neymar haul back a young Weverton, after the teenager nutmegged the forward. A younger Neymar would’ve been calling for more protection. after he’d rolled around the turf for five minutes, had it happened to him. While Weverton just looked non-plussed as he just got back into the training session.

That’s the thing with Neymar, especially since his move to Paris, he just doesn’t come across as a team player. He sulks when things don’t go his way and he’ll argue over set-pieces with teammates.

Don’t get me wrong, statistically Neymar is fantastic but you sometimes need more to be a great teammate. Ultimately, I believe the Brazilian attacker is bored with life in Ligue 1.

Dembele would return to France desperate to kick-start his career.

The French World Cup winner only started twenty league games in Spain last season and I’m sure the twenty-two year old will want to have more starts next term.

He scored eight league goals and created five assists in those La Liga outings and I think he’d get more if he played continuously throughout a season.

The youngster was at his best when he was performing for Borussia Dortmund and that was under current PSG boss Thomas Tuchel.

Ousmane shines on the left-wing and for France he works extremely hard for the team and sticks to his manager’s game-plan. That should be key if your main man is the centre forward.

PSG gaffer Tuchel told Skysports earlier this month that he could guarantee the future of key forwards Kylian Mbappe and Neymar:

“My wish is clear, but I can’t promise as that would be naïve and I don’t want to be naïve in this business.”

If it becomes a straight choice between the two, then I’d definitely keep hold of Mbappe over Neymar.

The hitman grabs goals, works harder for the team, is younger and is the player I’d build this PSG team around!

Kylian would definitely be my number nine and it would be his responsibility to fire Les Parisiens to European glory. He wants more responsibility after all (Source France24.com)

With the money that I’d expect them to bring in for Neymar, as well as Ousmane Dembele, I think the Ligue 1 champs should do their upmost to bring in Nicolas Pepe from Lille OSC.

The Ivorian was a sensation on the right-wing for Les Dogues. He possess electric pace, is very direct and has that key ability to know what to do when he reaches the final third.

Only Mbappe scored more than Pepe’s twenty-two French top flight strikes last season. The wideman also grabbed eleven league assists and that was the second highest in Ligue 1.

At twenty-four years of age, Pepe proved last season that he can excel in France and has all the tools needed to become a world class player.

If PSG have a front three of Dembele, Mbappe and Pepe then you have a fluid , balanced and hungry frontline. Importantly you would have forwards that will work well with each other and who will be there for each other.

I would also have an experienced back-up within the squad that can come in and help out. If Edinson Cavani is willing to play that role then great but I doubt it as he could get a lucrative first team offer elsewhere.

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting should be nowhere near this pool of players. I’m still scratching my head thinking about that transfer, he must have the best agent ever!

Then you should give more time to young forwards coming through the ranks.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Timothy Weah. He didn’t get the minutes required during his loan spell at Celtic but that wasn’t really his fault and he still did well with the minutes afforded to him. It might make sense to loan him to a fellow Ligue 1 side next year.

All in all, I think PSG need to start a new cycle. They need to bring the age of the squad down and make it all about Mbappe!

If that means dumping Neymar, then so be it.

Posted on May 31st, 2019 by scott
Filed under: Article