Mercato Mercato – PSG: How the relationship between Luis Enrique and Neymar risks changing PSG plans

The sequel was just as sublime with a crazy new season (31 goals including all taxes, 20 assists), less the C1. In October 2015, for the Brazilian’s first hat-trick with Barcelona, ​​Luis Enrique then summed up quite well the function of the latter in his Barça 2.0. “Since the start of the season, it has been electric and ultra-fasthe explained. When he enters the box with the speed he has, the defenders try to stop him, but in this way he gets penalties or he scores. He is a decisive player“.

Neymar also liked working with Luis Enrique

The rest was of the same ilk during the three seasons spent together. In 2017, before the comeback loomed where Neymar would be unfairly eclipsed from the lights despite his essential role, he did not change his tune: “His stats are those of a monster. He is one of the most dangerous players in the world“. Just before his departure from Barça, it was a tribute in good and due form that he had delivered to the Brazilian, who had not yet left to join the French capital.

“Time will tell if it will mark its timehe explained. But his way of understanding and interpreting football is very different from the rest of the players, much like other Brazilians. He does everything at breakneck speed. Sometimes they are real dance ballets, exceptional ballets, much more than just football dribbling“. Two years later, then coach of La Roja, he had reused the same terms but had added this small nuance: “Neymar is an incredible guy, humanly he is very young and wants to learn a lot and be happy. (…) But Neymar has a Brazilian life, like Ronaldinho and Ronaldo“.

To say that Luis Enrique had it all figured out is an understatement. At Barça, his methods ended up annoying some executives, not Neymar, who was one of the few to publicly thank him for everything he had done for him. Before flying to Paris, the Brazilian had even made it clear to the Barcelona management that he was not against seeing Juan Carlos Unzué, his deputy, succeed him at the head of Barça in 2017 before a falling out concerning… his turbulent private life does not come to harm the relationship. The rest of the story, everyone knows it: Valverde is the chosen one, Neymar is leaving.

Can Campos prevent the reunion?

Six years later, Luis Enrique will certainly find Neymar and vice versa. Beyond the mutual esteem between the two, the entire Parisian project could be impacted. Because Luis Enrique, who is unanimous with many Parisian decision-makers, including Luis Campos, will probably want to rely on a talent he knows and of which he knows how high he can sometimes carry collectives.

Tactically, given the shortcomings of his Roja, Luis Enrique risks being delighted to find a profile as attractive as Neymar. The Brazilian is probably less explosive than during his Barca years, that’s a fact. But his understanding of the game and his tactical flexibility, like this false number 9 position during the Final Four 2020 where he shone brightly in the game, have also evolved over the years. In Paris, it is therefore attractive reunions that are organized. History that the memory of a lastingly delicious Neymar is not the only privilege of Barcelona.