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There was a time, not many years ago, when Brazil’s Neymar Jr. was touted to be the heir apparent to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. It seemed that if anybody could break the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly in the Ballon d’Or, or indeed in the conversation of the best player in a generation, Neymar, the boy from Santos, looked the most likely candidate.
Neymar had age on his side and was blessed with the necessary talent and football skills to carve out a place among the football elite. It also seemed that he had been taking all the right steps towards having a successful career. In December 2011, Neymar's then club Santos played the FIFA Club World Cup final against Barcelona in Japan.
Although Lionel Messi scored a brace in Barcelona’s 4-0 win over the Brazilian club, it was the first time that the talent of Neymar was visible on the world stage.
The then teenager scored just once in the tournament, doing so in the semifinal against Japanese side Kashiwa Reysol. Only 19 years of age at the time, Neymar looked destined for greatness.
Neymar arrives at Barcelona
Just two years on, Neymar joined Lionel Messi at Barcelona, after lured from Santos to the La Liga club, albeit under dubious circumstances.
His transfer attracted a great deal of attention for all the wrong reasons, though. Reports emerged that Barcelona board members may have bribed Neymar's father to make the deal happen. This should have been a warning sign for the ruckus that was to surround Neymar's stay at Barcelona and even beyond.
True to his talent and potential, Neymar became a sensation at Barcelona, quickly endearing himself to the Camp Nou faithful. He scored in his very first El-Clasico game and went on to register 68 times in 123 appearances for the Catalan giants.
However, it was Neymar's relationship with the two other Barcelona forwards Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez who joined a year later from Liverpool, that would etch him eternally in the memories of Barcelona fans. Affectionately nicknamed MSN, the trio formed one of the most lethal attacking tridents in football history, leaving a trail of hapless defenders along their wake.
The 2015 UEFA Champions League victory, which remains Barcelona’s latest win in the competition was Neymar’s only taste of success in the blue riband event of European club football. Neymar's success in the Champions League, however, came at a price.
The world was at the feet of the talented Brazilian. Champions League success skyrocketed Neymar’s value in the eyes of people who coveted him and those who wanted the Brazilian to represent their football club. Although Barcelona almost emulated their sextuple winning run of the 2008-09 season, Neymar’s career began to take a nosedive.
Neymar leaves Barcelona for PSG
Barcelona’s Champions League success convinced the board that they could go on to achieve success on a consistent basis.
Their first approach in this regard was to strengthen the Blaugrana midfield. Italian Marco Veratti emerged as one of the frontrunners to bolster the Barcelona squad. He had everything Barcelona could look for in a midfield player.
However, PSG owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi had other ideas. It was his ambition to win the most prestigious titles in club football with his newly-acquired team Paris St. Germain. So instead of relinquishing his interest in Veratti, Al-Khelaifi did something the world was not prepared for, not least the Barcelona board; he made a move for Neymar.
The PSG owner chose to pay the Brazilian's staggering release fee of € 222 million to Barcelona, deemed unthinkable at that time, and in doing so managed to lure away one of the Catalan club's most prized assets.
Neymar left Camp Nou despite much persuasion from his teammates asking him to stay. The club's fans were left more heartbroken because of Gerard Pique’s social media promise of Neymar staying put at Barcelona.
Neymar's transfer, however, would surely go down as one of the worst deals in the PSG's history and the precursor to all subsequent headaches for the French club.
The decline of Neymar
Statistics aside, Neymar’s move away from Barcelona did not go down well with most of his compatriots. Everyone deemed it a move made for monetary reasons, with Neymar’s wages going as astronomically high as €720,000 per week. It is the kind of wage that other players can only dream of, but Barcelona were not paying him too shabbily either.
Neymar apparently moved away from Barcelona because he wanted to come out of the shadow of Lionel Messi. Playing second fiddle to the diminutive Argentine at Camp Nou wouldn't have done his Ballon d'Or ambitions any good, hence the move to PSG materialised.
Yes, the city of Paris welcomed Neymar warmly. He had every living comfort he needed and went on to score many goals for the Parisian club – 47 goals in 57 appearances till date. But with PSG not reaching the later stages of the Champions League, Neymar has had limited scope to outshine the likes of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the competition.
With frequent injuries and disciplinary issues keeping him in and out of the squad, Neymar has been dethroned, ironically, by his own clubmate Kylian Mbappe. In Paris, Neymar’s stock has fallen below that of the Parisian teenager Mbappe following the latter's stunning performances in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Instead of being the shining beacon for PSG in a new chapter in the club's history, Neymar looks seemingly content playing second fiddle to Mbappe, a role he also donned at Barcelona.
Neymar's footballing talent has never been in question but he has often been identified as a disruptive figure, lacking the professional discipline expected of a top-tier athlete. His penchant for partying and his late-night video gaming habits have not gone too well with the PSG manager and the club's owners.
Frank Lebouf and other French internationals have cautioned Mbappe not to follow in the footsteps of Neymar, with whom the youngster seems to get along well. Lebouf does not consider Neymar to be an ideal role model for young footballers in general, with the advice not being completely unfounded.
It is really disappointing to see a generational talent like Neymar waste himself in the relative obscurity of Ligue 1, a football league that is not at par with La Liga or the Premier League, both in terms of quality and mass appeal.
For now, Neymar seems to lack the drive and motivation to be the world's best football player, a desire that saw him leave the confines of Barcelona three summers ago and move to PSG.
The Brazilian has fallen far off the pecking order in the conversation of the best player on the planet. The Ballon d'Or is a distant dream for Neymar today. It will be interesting to see how the 28-year-old attempts to rejuvenate his stalled career.
If he keeps his head in the right place, Neymar can still make up for lost time and realise his full potential as he has a few good years of football left in him. For inspiration, the Brazilian need not look beyond his close friend at Barcelona, Lionel Messi, or perhaps Juventus' 35-year-old striker Cristiano Ronaldo.
