Opinion: Neymar's $242 Million PSG Move From Barcelona Was the Worst Mistake of His Career (2024)

Neymar Jr. is a name that has dominated the soccer world in the last decade. The Brazilian winger came from humble beginnings to become one of the best players of his generation. Apart from his on-the-field skills, he also became one of the biggest marketable players for brands around the world.

Neymar was expected to take the torch from Lionel Messi in FC Barcelona. However, that expectation didn’t come true when he moved to PSG in 2017. Although fans hoped for a huge run, Neymar couldn’t live up to his potential at PSG. What went wrong for Neymar in Paris that made that transfer the worst mistake of his career?

Neymar Jr.’s rise at FC Barcelona

Neymar Jr. moved to FC Barcelona in 2013 from Santos FC. He came to Europe after four years with the senior team of the Brazilian club. Neymar scored 72 goals and 35 assists in 140 appearances for Santos to earn a move to one of the biggest clubs in Europe.

The first season at FC Barcelona was an adjusting period for the winger, where he scored only 15 goals in 41 appearances. However, things quickly changed in favor of Neymar when Alexis Sanchez moved to Arsenal and Luis Suárez moved to FC Barcelona in 2014.

Neymar and Dembele Stats at FC Barcelona pic.twitter.com/V7yqZVanuh

— 𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢 𝐄𝐫𝐚 (@harryfcb21) September 15, 2023

These transfers enabled the Spanish club to line up the attacking front three of Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Luis Suárez. The renowned trio became known as MSN and helped Barcelona win their second treble in their club history in 2015.

The MSN attack ran for another two years before Neymar moved to PSG in the summer of 2017. The Brazilian winger made 186 appearances for FC Barcelona, scoring 105 goals and 76 assists. Neymar was settled in Barcelona and had a strong connection with Messi and Suarez.

Many fans and experts expected the winger to stay at Barcelona for the rest of his career. He was labeled the successor to Messi at Barcelona. However, reports claimed that the camp of the Brazilian winger felt that Neymar would always remain in the shadow of Messi unless he moved away from the club.

Neymar Jr. recording breaking transfer fee

Neymar had a jaw-dropping release clause at Barcelona which wasn’t expected to match by anyone. However, PSG shocked the world when reports came out that they were willing to pay €222 million ($242 million) to bring the winger to Paris.

❗| Leo Messi told Neymar in 2017 that he would do everything possible to make him win the Ballon D’Or, as an attempt for him to stay at FC Barcelona & reject PSG’s offer.@Alfremartinezz [🎖️]

— Managing Barça (@ManagingBarca) October 27, 2022

PSG deal was a bonus for Neymar who chose to be the foundation block of the club which aimed to become the next big superpower in Europe.

At the surface level, the thoughts from Neymar’s camp made sense at the time. However, things didn’t turn out their way when PSG signed Kylian Mbappe from AS Monaco.

Neymar Jr. struggled for game time at left wing position with Kylian Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe was an exciting young talent who took the world by storm with his breakout season with AS Monaco. At first, he was expected to be a support to Neymar Jr. at Paris but the French winger slowly established his supremacy.

In the first season, Mbappe played 16 more games than Neymar Jr. due to different injuries to the Brazilian winger. However, Neymar had more goal contributions throughout the season. But soon the picture changed in favor of Mbappe.

‼️🇫🇷 At PSG they are aware of the problems Mbappé had with Neymar Jr, to convince him to stay one more year they are saying that “he will have the same problems with Viní Jr” at Real Madrid. @diarioas #rmalive pic.twitter.com/BRLZvRo1wE

— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) November 16, 2023

In the second season at the club, Neymar Jr. had 36 goal contributions in 28 matches. Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe had 56 goal contributions in 43 appearances. The French winger played 1,200 minutes more than the Brazilian winger, even though being the younger talent.

As Mbappe’s output grew in Paris, Neymar’s injuries got worse, which hampered his standing within the squad. Whenever both players were available for matches, Neymar Jr. played at the left wing only because Mbappe was versatile enough to play as a center forward. As the seasons went on, the bargaining power of Mbappe grew and the left-wing position became highly contested among the two wingers.

How injuries impacted Neymar Jr. at PSG

Mbappe wasn’t the biggest issue for Neymar in PSG. The biggest problem was his lack of fitness due to lengthy injuries and suspensions that kept him out of action. Neymar played six seasons in Paris, two more than FC Barcelona but still played 13 fewer games for PSG as compared to FC Barcelona.

In his first season alone, he missed 24 matches for club and country with multiple issues. The issues got worse in the second season where the winger missed 36 matches for club and country with injuries. In the first two seasons, metatarsal fracture was the biggest issue for Neymar, which caused him to miss 38 matches in two seasons.

Neymar missed around 133 matches for club and country during his seasons with PSG. While his goal-scoring impact didn’t hamper him on the pitch the winger missed some crucial matches in the league and UCL for PSG. Neymar was on high wages at PSG which is why whenever the winger missed matches for the French club, it impacted his relationship with fans and the stakeholders at the club.

Neymar jr.’s statistics at PSG

Neymar played only 173 matches for PSG in six seasons, in which he scored 118 goals and 76 assists. While the winger helped PSG win five league titles, he wasn’t able to take the club to the promised land of being the UCL champion.

Neymar Jr. wanted to lead a project at PSG away from the shadow of Lionel Messi. However, he ended up moving from Messi’s shadow to the shadow of Kylian Mbappe. It is hard to predict whether the injuries would have escaped him if he remained in Barcelona. However, it is guaranteed that the winger would have had a free rein at the left-wing position of the squad.

Neymar was only 25 years old when he left Barcelona. Alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, he could compete for UCL for another 3–4 years at least. Instead, he moved away from Europe with a move to Al-Hilal at the age of 31.

Compared between Neymar Jr at Psg 🆚 Neymar Jr at Barcelona ✅🔥.

which is your favorite version? 🤔#football #neymarjr #soccer #psg #barcelona #futbol pic.twitter.com/6Oj3KQOIEC

— Kadmiel Munonye (@KadmielMunonye6) March 6, 2024

He hasn’t cemented his status as a legend at either FC Barcelona or PSG. He won only one UCL title in his European career and didn’t win any Ballon d’Or. Furthermore, he didn’t even come close to winning one after moving away from FC Barcelona.

Neymar has won numerous titles in his career. He even has an impressive goal-scoring output in his career. However, it is clear that the Brazilian winger has failed to live up to his potential with which he announced himself at Barcelona back in 2015. Looking back at his career, the PSG transfer can be pointed out as the biggest mistake of his career.