A hell”. This is the word Neymar chose to describe what he and his former teammate, Lionel Messi, “lived” at Paris Saint-Germain. The Brazilian, a player for Saudi club Al-Hilal since this summer, followed in the footsteps of his former Argentinian team-mate and friend, who spoke of “two difficult years at PSG” after leaving for Inter last June. Miami. Why such a heated divorce?
Barely arrived in the capital, Neymar is surprised and annoyed that Edinson Cavani does not let him take the penalties. On January 17, 2018, against Dijon, it was the Brazilian who refused to let the ball go to the Uruguayan at the Parc des Princes, and who took the score to … 8-0. Despite the spectacle and a quadruple from Neymar, the supporters whistle their N.10, especially since Cavani only needed one more achievement to become the top scorer in the history of PSG, ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Annoyed by the whistles, Neymar will not commune with the supporters and the rest of the team after a resounding victory. He and Cavani will pour water into their wine and split the penalties afterwards.
In 2019, after two years of ups and downs, Neymar let himself be seduced by the idea of a return to FC Barcelona, from whom Paris had snatched him for €222 million, a spending record which still stands. “We tried to find an amicable agreement, but we couldn’t leave,” admitted the striker in the Netflix documentary “Neymar: Perfect Chaos” released in 2022. Whistled by the Parc des Princes on September 14 against Strasbourg, the Brazilian responded with a superb acrobatic goal in added time (90th 2).
SEE ALSO – Neymar’s winning goal at PSG-Strasbourg in September 2019 (1-0)
It was perhaps during the Final 8 of the Champions League that the former Santos player played his best football in the red and blue jersey. With Neymar at the helm, PSG played its first C1 final, lost to Bayern Munich (0-1). A few days later, the Brazilian announced that he was “staying at PSG next season, with the ambition of returning to the Champions League final, this time to win it. I like this idea of doing everything to leave my name in the history books of my club. Everything is fine.
It was believed that a meeting between Lionel Messi and Neymar could only take place in Barcelona. And yet, it is the Argentinian who joins his friend in Paris. The Parisian N.10 is delighted, he who has just extended his contract until 2025. Messi, who said goodbye to Barça in tears, wants to be positive about his new adventure in France.
“This tramp, he never makes the pass to me.” It is in these terms that Kylian Mbappé vented his frustration against Neymar in images captured by Canal. The Frenchman had just been replaced in a victory against Montpellier (2-0) and felt that his attacking friend kept ignoring him on the field. L’Équipe reveals that Neymar did not understand or taste Mbappé’s desires elsewhere earlier in the summer. The supporters share this opinion and whistled Mbappé as much as they cheered Neymar at the start of the season.
The collapse on the lawn of Real Madrid, in the round of 16 of the Champions League (3-1 defeat after a 1-0 victory in the first leg), does not pass with the supporters. Upon their return to the Parc des Princes against Bordeaux (3-0 victory), Mauricio Pochettino’s players are copiously whistled. In particular Messi and Neymar… while Mbappé is spared, he who scored the two Parisian goals against Real.
If Messi is faithful to his legendary discretion, Neymar is, as usual, quite talkative. A month after the rout against Real, and while the whistles of the Park have gradually weakened, the Brazilian comes out of the woods. “They will get tired of whistling because I still have three years left on my contract,” he told ESPN. Something to add a little oil to the fire.
Tired of the questionable performance of its star, often injured, PSG opens the door to a departure. “I still want to stay at the club,” Neymar swears at the end of July 2022 during a summer tour of Japan. Under contract until 2027 following extensions automatically activated during a previous agreement, the Brazilian will remain in Paris.
New disappointment for PSG, easily dismissed by Bayern Munich in the knockout stages of the Champions League (0-1, 2-0). As is now the tradition, the Parisian supporters reserve an icy welcome to their players, and especially to their stars. The Argentine press is offended by the whistles against Messi, then out of contract. The world champion is only a shadow of himself since his coronation in Qatar in December. He is like a team that can’t wait for the season to be over.
The anger of the supporters eventually spilled over from the Parc des Princes. At the beginning of May, dozens of them went to Bougival, in front of the Brazilian striker’s home. “Neymar get lost,” they intone. In a press release, PSG “condemns with the greatest firmness the intolerable and insulting actions of a small group of individuals”.
It never clicked between Messi and Paris Saint-Germain. When he reveals his signing at Inter Miami, the Argentinian justifies his departure from the Ile-de-France club: “I was not happy during these two years, I did not have fun and it affected my family life. My decision is also motivated by this, the idea of finding, in quotes, my family and my children, and enjoying everyday life.
On Tuesday August 15, Neymar is transferred from Paris Saint-Germain to Al-Hilal, in Saudi Arabia. The Parisian president, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, salutes “an exceptional player, one of the best in the world” and who “will always be part of our history”.
PSG makes short work of RC Lens (3-1) on the lawn. In the stands, the Collectif Ultras Paris deploys a banner in English: “Neymar: finally rid of the rude”. What could be translated as: “Neymar: finally rid of the rude” or “ill-mannered”. Across the Atlantic, an identical banner for Messi is deployed around the Miami stadium.
