Must Paris Saint-Germain end the Neymar chapter?

Opinions are divided on Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior!

Sure – on a good day the Brazilian superstar is one of the best and most gifted footballers in the world, both individually and purely in terms of talent. Dances samba with the ball, lets his opponents get out with ease and inspires the spectators with filigree technique and dream goals. (Alle Champions-League-News)

On bad days, when things don’t go well for the 31-year-old, he dives in – and damages the Parisian game. This was also the case in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against FC Bayern.

Ney owed a lot! Bad free-kicks, inaccurate crosses, few shots – the Paris Saint-Germain game passed him by. PSG only got going when Kylian Mbappé came on in the 57th minute. In the end, Munich still won 1-0 in the Prinzenpark.

“I hear the debate about Ney,” said PSG coach Christoph Galtier on Tuesday’s PK. “His absence is a handicap for the team, 17 goals and 11 assists this season… If I read ‘all the better’, no! Is the team more balanced without him? Yes. Is it better the way it is? Having Ney is better from an offensive point of view.”

And yet: The fans may currently regret the Brazilian’s long absence, but a remarkable statistic shows that the Parisian star ensemble plays better without him – or at least two prominent players.

The Sheikh club has never lost a game when Lionel Messi and Mbappé were on the pitch together without Neymar (12 wins, three draws). Together, the two scored an impressive 25 goals in these games. Mbappé netted 14 times – Messi scored eleven times.

PSG is better without Neymar. There are also interesting statistics for this: only in his first season in 2017 did the French subscription champions win more games with (87 percent) than without (68 percent) the Brazilian international.

It should remain his only one. The current 2022/23 season is particularly striking: 69 percent of competitive games in all competitions were won with the Brazilian, 88 percent without him!

France expert Alexis Menuge therefore sees no disadvantage in Neymar’s absence, because “with the three stars on the offensive there is a rift in the team”. And goes even further: “You can’t get ahead in the Champions League with the three up there.” (NEWS: Mbappé challenge to Bayern!)

His reasoning: “All three stand around in front if they lose the ball,” Menuge continued. “The other seven then have to run around everywhere and mostly without orientation. Without Neymar they can play a 4-4-2. That would give them the best chance of turning the thing around.”

So it’s no wonder that farewell rumors about the star striker have been floating around in the media for months. Does PSG still need Neymar?

A key argument against this is Neymar’s devastating injury record!

Since his €222m transfer from FC Barcelona to the French capital, Ney has missed a total of 115 games, 716 days, almost two years at PSG.

If you add up the costs that the Sheikh Club has spent on its superstar in six seasons with a transfer fee and an annual salary of 45 million euros, you get dizzy.

In total, Neymar will cost the Parisians 492 (!) million euros by the end of the season, and his contract is also valid until 2027.

In other words, since 2017, PSG has put €82 million on the table per season, €6.833 million per month and €224,657.53 per day. If you “only” break down the days when Neymar was fit, he even cost his club 333,785.62 euros a day!

Terrible expenses for such an injury-prone player who has been injured 27 (!) times in six seasons at PSG. This week the Brazilian will undergo first-ever surgery in Doha on his right ankle, which has kept him sidelined on numerous occasions.

Because until last week, Ney still believed that he would be able to play in the Allianz Arena (Champions League: FC Bayern – PSG in LIVETICKER) on Wednesday, but his pain was too severe and his foot too fragile.

After several examinations and clarifying discussions between the PSG bosses, coaches, doctors and the Brazilian, they came to the conclusion that surgery was inevitable, reports the The team.

After numerous sprains, bruises, blows and tears, Neymar’s vulnerable right ankle was so badly damaged that without an operation the risk of recurrence is far too high. The surgery was the last resort.

Neymar is always under criticism. Firstly, because he’s so injury-prone, he’s out again until the end of the season. And secondly, because it polarizes and offends. Again and again there should have been trouble with Mbappé and Messi, which the club always denied.

However, the fact that the three superstars are not best friends cannot be denied. Third, critics see the Brazilian as a sloppy genius who rarely realizes his potential and a diva with star airs.

Fourth, football pundits also disapprove of his unprofessional laissez-faire attitude and the theatrics he occasionally displays, which doesn’t exactly help his image. Best example: At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Neymar was on the pitch 14 minutes after fouls on him.

The 31-year-old was and is considered the legitimate successor to Pelé and Ronaldo in his native Brazil. But a really big title with the Selecao has so far been denied him!

In 2022 and 2018 it was already over in the World Cup quarter-finals and at the home World Cup in 2014 there was the nasty 1: 7 shame in the semi-finals against Germany, which he once again only had to watch from the stands due to injury.

After the bankruptcy against Bayern, there is said to have been a meeting between PSG boss Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Chelsea owner Todd Boehly. It was about Neymar and a possible change in the coming summer. Loud The Parisian and Brand there is a fee of “only” 60 million euros in the room.

An expensive misconception considering the Parisians have so far spent €2.843m per game, €2.523m per scorer point, €4.169m per goal and €6.389m per assist for Neymar. (NEWS: Coach icon leathers against Neymar)

And there is really no end in sight! Because on the one hand no club wants and can pay the handsome salary of the Brazilian and on the other hand Neymar should loudly the city on the Seine The team don’t even want to leave. Not surprising with such earnings.

But one flaw will remain: Because the 31-year-old has to be chalked up to the fact that he has not (yet) managed to win the handle pot with PSG. For this, the superstar left Barca, stepped out of Messi’s long shadow – and really wanted to do it alone in Paris to show all his critics.

Without success! Because now he is in the shadow of Mbappé!