The father/agent of Neymar has today delved further into the reasoning behind his son’s departure from Barcelona for Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain.
Following weeks of intense speculation surrounding the future of Brazilian superstar Neymar at the Camp Nou, a deal to take to the 25-year-old to the Parc des Princes was eventually found on Thursday, with PSG smashing the all-time transfer record in the process.
A number of reports claimed differing reasons for the South American’s decision to depart Catalunya, including the massive wages on offer in Paris, the challenge of bringing the Champions League to PSG for the first time, and the chance to step out of the shadow of Blaugrana legend Lionel Messi.
Moving on
And Neymar’s father has today revealed that the latter of these explanations bares the most truth.
Speaking in an interview with Cope, the Brazilian explained:
‘Imagine a place where you are the protagonist of a club, where you are the idol of that club and everyone wants to transform you into the star that you do not want to be.’
‘Messi is the star and will always be the star. Not only because of the love and respect that Neymar has for Leo, he is his idol.’
‘Imagine that everyone said that Neymar has to be Messi’s substitute, he does not want to be his substitute. You have to leave Messi, he is the idol at Barcelona.’
‘Neymar has to make his own way and accept the challenge he has. I think my son has been a man, shown respect [to Messi] and now he has to go his own way.’
‘He could go to any club and be in the spotlight, not that he wants to be number one. He is taking a risk. Can PSG guarantee him the Ballon d’Or? No. And it is crazy that people believe that. It would be easier at Barca, with the help of that team.’