Neymar looks as though he could leave Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain this summer, but why is he going to swap one of the world's most successful clubs for a team that finished second in Ligue 1 last season and has never won the Champions League? We take a look... After weeks of speculation, Gerard Pique appeared to ease Barcelona fears when he posted a picture next to Neymar with the caption, "He stays". Was that the final word? Had Pique heard that directly from Neymar? Not quite. He has since backtracked, saying: "It's not official. And it's not for me to say. It's a personal opinion from the conversation I had with him and my intuition." The transfer saga of the summer rumbles on. In an effort to end the speculation, Sky Sports Spanish football expert Guillem Balague has said Barcelona asked the 25-year-old to message the club's fans on social media to make it clear he wants to stay. He has not done that yet and what was once transfer gossip now looks like becoming a real possibility. "Doubts, doubts and more doubts" was a recent headline in Catalan newspaper Sport, which added: "What really hurts is the silence of the player himself, which in the end says a great deal." Role at BarcelonaWhen you are part of a superstar attacking trio you might expect some sacrifice for the good of the team, but Neymar may feel he is giving up more than his team-mates. Having hit the 20-goal mark in each of the prior two seasons, he scored just 13 last term. Stationed on the left flank, he was instead tasked with creating chances for Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, who combined to score 66 goals.
| 2016/17 | 2015/16 | 2014/15 | |
| Minutes played | 2652 | 3057 | 2572 |
| Goals | 13 | 24 | 22 |
| Assists | 11 | 12 | 7 |
He was also asked to track back - unlike Messi - taking on what Balague described as a "selfless role for the team". Are these grounds for complaint? Sky Sports Spanish football expert Terry Gibson does not think so. "I don't think it was a spectacular season for Neymar last year and maybe one of the reasons Barcelona weren't as successful was because Neymar and Suarez both did not score as many goals as the previous season," he said. "He can't complain about how he has been treated, where he is playing or his role in the team. For a lot of people playing in that front three is as good as it gets for a young player. He is 25, so he will step out of the shadow of Messi, who is five years older. "Neymar's time will come and I think Barcelona is the best club for him. To take the opportunity to go to PSG, who are not as big historically and don't have the same quality of players, just to be the star man and focus of attention is a strange choice." Although he did not score as many goals last season as in 2015/16, Neymar did step up on several occasions to save Barcelona. That was most famously the case against PSG in the Champions League, when Neymar scored two, won a penalty and picked the pass for Sergi Roberto's remarkable late goal in the 6-1 win. It was an inspired performance that suggested he could carry a team, even one with Messi in the side. And he was perhaps the only Barca player to emerge with credit from their 3-0 aggregate defeat to Juventus in the semi-final. Neymar completed 13 dribbles against Juve in the second leg at the Nou Camp - the most in a Champions League game since 2014 - as Messi and Suarez struggled to make an impact in a goalless draw. He also impressed when given a larger role in the absence of Messi. Neymar scored three in three games after the Argentine limped off against Atletico Madrid in late September and hit 10 in nine without Messi the season before. He starred too against Granada in April, with Messi absent through suspension, netting his 100th Barcelona goal. That same month Balague said: "Neymar accepts, for now at least, that Messi is still the main man". Perhaps that is no longer the case. A Sky source reports he has become frustrated at "playing second fiddle" to Messi, telling Sky Sports News: "At the age of 25, he thinks it is his time to win the Ballon d'Or." But Messi's place atop the Barcelona hierarchy looks secure, especially after agreeing a new four-year extension this summer.
If Neymar wants to lead a team and win a Ballon d'Or - like Messi at Barca or Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid - he is unlikely to get the chance at the Nou Camp in the immediate future.
But will his chances improve if he joins PSG? "As long as Messi is still playing and Ronaldo is still knocking in the goals, how will he win it?" asks Gibson.
"PSG would have to win the Champions League and he would have to be the main player, and I would still put PSG quite a way down the list to win the Champions League even with Neymar."
From SkySport
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