The most expensive footballer in football history, Brazilian Neymar, and his club, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), are headed for divorce after five years of tumultuous relationship. The process is expected to be complex due to the lack of candidates to assume the high profile of the striker. Chelsea could be one of them.
As reported this Thursday by “Le Parisien”, a newspaper with good sources at PSG, Neymar and PSG agree that their paths should separate. The problem is how. With an annual salary of 35 million euros net and 30 years of age, few clubs in Europe’s elite have the ability – or the desire – to hire him.
Although the Parisian club used the image of the Brazilian to promote its new kit for the 2022-2023 season -along with those of Mbappé, Messi and Marquinhos-, the new sports project of the Qatari administration no longer counts as the first sword with the player for which in 2017 paid 222 million euros to Barcelona.
The president of PSG, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, hinted at this in an interview, who stated that in the new Mbappé era, supervised by the Portuguese Luis Campos as sports adviser, there is no longer room for “ostentation, nor sequins.” According to “Le Parisien”, Neymar and his clan, led by his father, took the hint.
In fact, the canarinho international is running out of great support in the French entity. His compatriot Leonardo has just left the club’s sports management and several of the Spanish-speakers in the locker room have either left, like Ángel di María, or are on the sales list, like Leandro Paredes. Messi is one of the few friends who resist.
In addition, Neymar’s relationship with Mbappé has cooled in recent years. According to the press, the French striker disapproves of certain frivolities and licenses granted to the Brazilian, who has missed a large number of games due to injuries.
Amid the storm clouds, an old colleague from PSG, fellow Brazilian Thiago Silva, has come to the rescue. In an interview with the media in his country, the veteran defender called him to join the English club. “It has to come, if it happened, it would be the best (…) At the moment I don’t know anything, but I hope it happens.”
According to media such as “L’Équipe”, the team led by the German Thomas Tuchel, who coincided with Neymar at PSG, is one of the few places where the striker would agree to land, both for salary and for the sports project. EFE
