Letting Neymar Go Stinks—But Barcelona can Make it Work
By Sean Whooley
Two Captains, One Ship
Two captains is really lowballing considering the talent of everybody in the Barcelona squad. But, in terms of global popularity and production, consider Messi and Neymar to be the standouts.
As one Barcelona legend once reportedly said, that doesn’t always work. In this case, he was right.
It rarely impacted play, as the pair joined with Luis Suarez to terrorize defenses all over Europe as one of the best tridents the sport has ever seen. However, it seems very prominent in Neymar’s decision to leave. While it’s widely known that Messi is the world’s greatest, Neymar is good enough to captain his own ship.
This move to PSG is going to give him that opportunity. He saw the way an aging Zlatan Ibrahimovic not only dominated the French League but became a God in the eyes of the people of Paris. Imagine a player, not only in his prime, but of Neymar’s popular status? He’d be the greatest player to ever grace the Parc des Princes, no doubt.
It has nothing to do with ill will toward his teammates or his club. It’s the opportunity to become what Messi is in Barcelona. It just happens to include a lot of money as well.