FC Barcelona – Did They Really Need Neymar?

By Anustup Sikdar
11 years Ago

Necessity? Luxury? Or a political agenda?

Every year, Barcelona focus their attention on a player, who isnai??i??t exactly a necessity. Cesc Fabregas, a couple of years back and Alex Song, last year. This is gradually developing into a habit ai??i?? and a bad one at that. This season, the Catalans have channelized all their attention towards Brazilian wonder-kid Neymar ai??i?? despite the fact that itai??i??s the defense that needs refurbishment, the most. If sources are to be believed, they have ignored Mats Hummelsai??i?? desire to play for them and pursued Thiago Silva ai??i?? a more expensive and relatively aged alternative, with little or no re-sale value. Apparently the asking price acted as a deterrent and then they tried negotiating with Manchester City for their influential captain ai??i?? Vincent Kompany. Here too, they seem to have hit a dead end and the only realistic options that remain are the 19-year old, AS Roma centre-back, Marquinhos and swashbuckling Chelsea defender David Luiz (who, going by Jose Mourinho’s ‘love’ for Barcelona, might join Barca). Appalling, to say the least.

The kind of hoopla that the imminent Neymar-deal generates, will only add to the pressure that the young man will carry on his shoulders, at the Camp Nou. At the drop of a hat, he may be touted a failure. If he goes 4-5 matches without goal/assist, he might be deemed misfit by the press. The question, however, remains ai??i?? Do Barcelona, really need Neymar to share Messiai??i??s goal-scoring responsibility? Think a little rationally, for about ai??i??25m, plus add-ons, is it wise to invest that sum on a 21-year old ai???wonder-kidai??i?? from Brazil (a country, which has the notoriety to produce ai???wonder-kidsai??i?? every other year) ai??i?? when after a few months, he might be able to join for a much lesser sum, or even free? There is a slight possibility that another club might swoop in on the opportunity, but when the player has expressed his desire to play alongside Lionel Messi, and in a club like Barcelona, chances have to be taken ai??i?? especially when there is a possibility to save some money. Well, irrationality in transfers has been a hallmark of Barcelona and this deal probably is no exception.

Last season, Alexander Patoai??i??s goal, 24 seconds into the match spelled the gaping problem Barcelona had in their defense. When Pato whizzed past Mascherano and Busquets, it manifested the lack of pace and anticipation in the Barcelona defense. Even after finishing, hardly anybody was close enough to Pato to make physical contact. And this was exploited by the heavy-weights in forthcoming matches, and eventually the 7-0 whitewash (over two legs), has perhaps brought down the high flying Catalans to reality. Vilanovaai??i??s primary objective should have been to target top-class defenders. He did so. Hummels, Silva, Marquinhos, Kompany, et al, are all linked to Barcelona, but he did not prioritize them over Neymar ai??i?? a luxury in offense, which isnai??i??t exactly the need of the hour. Yes, the offense has been thwarted, as teams around Europe started reading the style employed by the Blaugrana, but the one particular problem has been the absence of a forward, who can take on physically imposing defenders, someone like a Radamel Falcao or an Edinson Cavani. Neymar, with his built, might just find himself in hot waters, once he comes up against the likes of Subotic, Pepe or Kompany.

At 5ai??i??9ai???, Neymar is certainly not the tallest to strikers, neither is he as stoutly built as an Aguero or a Tevez. What adds to the misery is that Neymar may be a star in the Brazilian league, but football in Europe is a different ballgame altogether. A metamorphosis is the need of the hour for the young Brazilian and add to it the burden of expectation, partly because of the hype generated and partly because of the exorbitant transfer fee (where the whole 5-year package might add up to more than 100 million Euros), Neymar is in for a tough ride at the Camp Nou. Sandro Rosell a former executive at Nike, Brazil might just have cemented his position at the helm of the club with this move. Neymar is perhaps more of a political buy than anything else. Yes, he is perhaps one of the most talented players on the planet right now, but is he the player Barcelona needs at this moment?

Last time Barcelona had a South American sensation signing for them, the players who succeeded, had prior experience in Europe. While Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Maradona did rather well, Maxi Lopez (River Plate to Barcelona) failed miserably, and could play only 14 matches for Barcelona in 2 years (of which he was sent on loan to Mallorca for a year), and Javier Saviola (River Plate to Barcelona) was just about average. Real Madrid, who were chasing the Brazilian prodigy, too have had Robinho, who, co-incidentally was also heralded as the next superstar, but eventually turned out to be a flop. The bottom-line remains that it is sheer stupidity to spend exorbitant sums on a young South American offensive players, who are hyped, are the next <fill-in-a-legendary-name>, are the next superstar ai??i?? and who lack top flight football experience in Europe. Unfortunately, Barcelona seem to have learnt nothing from the transfers of Ibrahimovic, Hleb or even Chygrynskiy. The transfer could have been justified, if Neymar had prior experience of European football or if Barcelona hadnai??i??t spent more than 25 million Euros in acquiring his services.

Young footballers are burdened with a lot of expectations and more so if they are hailed as prodigies. Youtube and the Media are perhaps to be blamed for the premature demise of a plethora of promising young footballers. Last season Eden Hazard too was subjected to the same. His tweet, ai???Iai??i??m signing for the championai??i??s (sic) league winner,ai??? further added to the expectation, both from Chelsea and Hazard. Chelsea failed to create any impact, either on the domestic league or in Champions League, but they won the Europa League. Hazard, however did quite well. 2625 minutes in the Premier League (roughly about 77 minutes per match, of the 34 he played), and 2758 minutes in 40 matches, of which he started 29 (roughly 70 minutes, per match), goes on to show how crucial a member he has been to the London-team. 17 goals in all competition for Chelsea further substantiates that the young Belgian has hit the ground running.

Hazard was born in January, 1991 and Neymar in February 1992 ai??i?? they are almost of similar age and are expected to add to their respective teamai??i??s offensive endeavours. It is inevitable that the Brazilian will be compared to the Belgian amongst a host of other young talented players (Gotze, Reus, et al) ai??i?? because thatai??i??s what fans and the media love to do. A few matches without goals or assists will be termed as ai???goal-droughtai??i??; a few off days might even bring upon him the tag of a ai???failureai??i?? ai??i?? football for Neymar, at Camp Nou will be as much off the pitch as it will be on it. Will the young boy from Brazil be able to shoulder so much? Your guess is as good as ours.

Categories: Barcelona, Features, Spanish La Liga
Tags: FC Barcelona Neymar transfer

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