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The curious case of Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior
PSG and Neymar played a huge role in inflating the transfer market, so much so that in today’s time, 80 million gets you a defender which a decade ago got you Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
Hailing from a small town in his native country, this lanky lad with a flashy hairstyle has become one of the greatest players in the history of the ‘Beautiful Game’. In his illustrious career, he has won multiple club trophies, personal accolades and international cups. With a fan following behind him to dethrone an entire kingdom, this revered hero will inspire generations to come. But this story isn’t about Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro but a certain Brazilian, whose career is also filled with numerous milestones but overshadowed by off field antics.
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, popularly known as Neymar Jr, these days is in spotlight for angling a move out of the French capital. This is the same Paris St. Germain which forked out 198 million pounds to tear apart the fearsome threesome of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar at Barcelona. But the so-called ‘match made in heaven’ has turned sour after just three seasons, so much so that fans are holding banners inside the hallowed turf of Parc des Princes demanding for their prized asset to leave the club immediately.
“Neymar can leave PSG if there is an offer that suits everyone. It’s clear to everyone (that he wants to leave), but in football, you say one thing today and tomorrow another ... It’s amazing but it’s like that. We talked with his entourage too. Everyone knows everything,” Paris St Germain sporting director Leonardo was quoted as saying by Le Parisien earlier in the transfer window.
One would think any club would be happy to have a match-winner like Neymar on their roster. Wrong. Because of shenanigans, European elite have reportedly passed upon the opportunity to sign him. There is no questioning his ability but off-field histrionics is forcing clubs to look the other way.
Inflated market
“I don’t think he’s expensive for £200 million. I think he’s expensive for the fact that you are going to have more players of £100 million and more players of £80 million and more players of £60 million,” former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said this during a press conference in 2017. He saw it coming long before anyone even thought it would happen so soon.
PSG and Neymar played a huge role in inflating the transfer market, so much so that in today’s time, 80 million gets you a defender which a decade ago got you Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. Since Neymar’s record transfer to Paris, the 100 million mark has been breached many-a-times. Kylian Mbappe, Ousmanne Dembele and Philippe Coutinho last year while Joao Felix and Antoine Griezmann joined the eye-watering list this term. When PSG decided to activate Neymar’s ridiculous transfer clause, all hells broke loose and changed the way transfer markets functioned.
Spending money is seen as a necessary evil. ‘You spend or someone else will’ has become the motto. In trying to trump each other, clubs have been shelling moolah for fun. The most notable example is Manchester United’s Alexis Sanchez saga. The Red Devils hierarchy couldn’t see the Chilean join their cross-town rivals and ended up paying a fortune to Arsenal.
The result was under pressure Sanchez couldn’t come up with the goods on the field and now he is supposedly on his way out of Old Trafford. His astronomical wages means United will have to pay a big part of his salary just to see him play for some other club (read Inter). The domino effect that started in Barcelona reached Manchester and other parts of Europe in merely one season.
Controversies
There are people who associate Neymar with heavenly football but there must be greater number of people who are tired of him being in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The feet which help him rewrite history books are beaten by a head which forces him to erase his greatness with his own hands. Such has been the curious case of Neymar that one goalpost is filled with trophies and the other blighted by controversies.
His career really took off after a stunning Puskas award-winning goal for Santos but his subsequent dream transfer to Barcelona was marred with tax evasion accusations. His tryst with controversies had just begun and Barcelona management paid the price. A price they thought was worth paying to keep rivals Real Madrid at bay.
If his joining Barcelona was controversial, him leaving the Catalan giants was explosive, mildly put that is. PSG had a dream - to win the Champions League. Neymar had a dream - to win the Ballon d’Or. When the two dreams combined, it culminated into a 198 million pound mistake, that gave them league titles and ups but both are nowhere near to realising their personal dreams.
Neymar’s stint in Paris has seen him dribble past players week in week out but the same local newspaper which carries his goal-scoring feats also highlight him having an ego battle with teammates, slapping a fan on cam, dissent against coach and so on and so forth. Him missing training recently, trying to force a move out of the club was also seen as a latest addition in his PSG rap sheet, although, his camp shot it down attributing his absence to injury.
Deja Vu
Just few days are left for the transfer window to close but the Neymar saga doesn’t seem to be near it’s culmination. PSG chief and Neymar’s compatriot Leonardo has said Brazilian will be shifted out but the incoming of Griezmann at Barcelona means they cannot sign another superstar this summer without making a mockery of the Financial Fair Play (FPP). Moreover, PSG would want to recoup most of the money they threw on the player in the first place. Neymar to Barcelona coupled with controversies, where have you heard this before?
Real Madrid too have been mooted as a possible destination but they seem to be hell bent on uniting Paul Pogba with his idol Zinedine Zidane. They already have spent more than 300 million this term and will have to sell a superstar to bring in another. With Gareth Bale’s preference to stay and play golf in Madrid, this transfer seems like a long shot.
“It seemed he was leaving and now he’s here with us,” Zidane had said ahead of team’s La Liga opener against Celta Vigo. “The dynamics and things change, but I will count on him. He has a good record and is an important player and I hope that all the players want to make it difficult for me to pick the team.”
English clubs have money to burn but their window is shut and no team in Germany on Italy will decimate their wage structure to bring in a multi-million headache.
Despite winning host lot of trophies in Barcelona, Neymar turned his back on the club because he knew he can’t be the top dog with an Argentine messiah running amock at the iconic Camp Nou. But who would have thought he will have to go back because of a certain Frenchman, who already has a World Cup trophy in his bedroom at the tender age or 19.
