3 reasons why Neymar's departure was good for Barcelona

Neymar's transfer was the headline-grabbing news of the summer and took the footballing world with a surprise with the magnitude of money involved in it.

The Catalans were planning to steal Marco Veratti from PSG but instead lost their star forward to them.

The Brazilian had a release clause worth €222 million in his contract which was happily met by the billionaires owning the French club.

The 26-year-old now earns close to £600,000-a-week at the Parc des Princes.

It was said that more than monetary benefits, it was actually the image of Lionel Messi eclipsing his value at the Camp Nou, which forced him to find a club where he would be playing out of the Argentine's shadow.

However, Barcelona has dealt with the blow well. Neymar's departure was arguably a blessing in disguise for the club.

That said, here is a look at the reasons why the player's departure was good for the Spanish giants.

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#3 Messi's role redefined

Lionel Messi is aging like an old wine under Valverde

Barcelona's front three was left broken after Neymar's departure in the summer. The club immediately signed Ousmane Dembele who inherited the Brazilian's No.11 shirt but was not expected to fill the void so created anytime soon.

Luis Suarez, also, went misfiring and it all appeared to be going wrong under Valverde.

Messi came out as a true leader and carried that front-line all by himself. Despite being on the wrong side of 30, the player is in breathless form, this season and appears to be aging like an old wine.

Valverde has accommodated the forward in the typical No.10 role where he has the absolute license to roam anywhere on the pitch.

The previous bosses had preferred to play Messi on the wings or in a false-nine. The trio of MSN- Messi, Suarez and Neymar had always featured in a traditional front-three.

The Argentine now plays behind Suarez and constantly drops deep to pick up the ball and find a way forward with his sensational reading of the game and unmatched passing abilities.

His movement is causing more trouble to the opposing defences than ever with Chelsea being the latest victims.

Messi has scored 34 goals this season so far and provided for another 16 for his team. He has been producing some sensational through balls all season and appears to be unstoppable in the given role.

Had Neymar been there, the responsibilities would have been shared between the star players. Maybe, that could have just limited the player's role to the previous positions for yet another spell.

Moreover, with the age burden falling on him inevitably, this new role could prove to be redefining at this stage of his career.

#2 Pressure to fill in

Barcelona have invested the money from Neymar sale wisely

Barcelona received some serious money from the Neymar deal. The club was under massive pressure to find a player who could fill in the shoes of the Brazilian and salvage the club's pride on losing a major name in the market.

Arguably, they have invested that money quite well so far. Dembele arrived at the club in a reported £135.5 million deal. Barca did not stop here and signed Philip Coutinho in January for another massive £142 million.

In the duo, the Cules now have the players who have a large playing career lying ahead of them. Coutinho would be an ideal replacement for Andres Iniesta who now, is in the dwindling stages of his career while Dembele, the 19-year-old would be an interesting prospect for the club.

Both the players are highly versatile and have shown the glimpses of their caliber. While some might not agree with the fact, this Barcelona team is more threatening than the one fielded by Luis Enrique which had quite a few players calling out to be replaced.

It is hard to imagine such a bright team had Neymar not left the club, which eventually forced them to sign some sensational players in order to satisfy the fans and send the rivals a message of the club's prowess even in the current transfer market scenario.

#1 Accommodation troubles

Valverde has effectively changed Barcelona's traditional 4-3-3 formation

For almost a decade, Barcelona had played in a conventional 4-3-3 formation, until Valverde took over in 2017.

The boss has been deploying the troops in his favored 4-4-2 formation, unless the opposition's style of play demands a change in the tactics.

With Sergio Busquets sitting in front of the defence, a deep lying playmaker in the form of Ivan Rakitic or Paulinho accompanies him in a central midfield of two.

On the wider areas of midfield, Coutinho and Dembele/Iniesta generally start to give the team much-needed width. While Suarez leads the line, Messi plays in the traditional No. 10 role, behind him.

It would be much of a conjecture to say that Valverde would have changed his formation, had Neymar been there at the club.

Moreover, the Brazilian would have been a total misfit had he been playing in the wider midfield roles as the forward two would have been occupied by Messi and Suarez.

Valverde could have been facing a Jose Mourinho moment, where he would be having the problem of plenty.

Apparently, PSG have saved Barcelona and their manager some serious trouble by swaying Neymar away.