An immense feeling of waste. This is the feeling that predominates when reading the long format of France Football devoted to what still looks quite a bit like a descent into hell for Neymar. Arriving with a wasp waist and a smile from ear to ear in the summer of 2017, in a Parc des Princes who had to pinch himself but still couldn’t believe his eyes, the Brazilian genius finally left through the back door, thrown out by Luis Enrique when he arrived at the club a year ago.
According to our colleagues at France Football, number 10, holed up in his semi-orgiac bunker in Bougival, after having entertained the Parisian nights during his first years at the club, had ended up alienating a good part of the team. The cause was an obvious malaise, to the point that one day a player on the squad found him in the locker room toilets, crying, at half-time of a championship match. “He was surprised to see him like that. The Brazilian told him that no one understood him,” a person close to the Parisian club confided to our colleagues.
Obvious discomfort and announced divorce
This spleen could also turn into anger, even malice, as during this clash during training at Camp des Loges with an assistant to Christophe Galtier. Back on the pitch but still quite angry, Neymar then unloads his frustration on poor Ismaël Gharbi. “Neymar caught him to put a brush on him and hit him in the head while he was on the ground,” says a witness to FF. Everyone was shocked… At the end, he really wasn’t nice. »
The former Barcelona player also made a habit of openly attacking Vitinha, the young Portuguese freshly arrived from FC Porto. “He was odious towards Vitinha,” continues the same witness. The Portuguese denied it, because he is nice and didn’t want any problems, but on several occasions he was insulted. »
A divided team
Generally speaking, Ney’s behavior and escapades – like when he arrived at Camps des Loges with the eyes and gait of someone who only drank water the day before – ended up exasperating a large part of the group, including Mbappé but also Sergio Ramos, who had to intervene to prevent Neymar from attacking Hakimi after an altercation between the Moroccan and his friend Léo Messi.
In such a context, we understand a little better the results of a PSG which, last season, had only a team in name. It was therefore high time for Neymar to put an end to this adventure spoiled by repeated injuries and a lifestyle not always suited to high-level sport.
Enough to feed immense regrets as this player could also be exceptional on the pitch. We will all remember these first recitals on French soil, in Guingamp or at the Parc against Toulouse, where Neymar walked on water and the opposing defenses. The story could have been so beautiful but it never really was. A huge waste from start to finish for a child king often overwhelmed by his star status and overtaken by his old demons.