A former Blancos star feels one of the finest players on the planet needs to form part of a squad where he has proven performers alongside him
Neymar’s decision to leave Barcelona was “a terrible sin on his behalf”, says Clarence Seedorf, with it suggested that the Brazilian needs a return to Camp Nou or a switch to Real Madrid.
The man widely considered to be one of the finest players on the planet opted to walk out on La Liga heavyweights in Catalunya back in the summer of 2017, as a €222 million (£198m/$254m) deal took him to Paris Saint-Germain.
It was suggested that Neymar needed to free himself from Lionel Messi’s shadow in order to become a superstar in his own right, but Seedorf believes the 26-year-old needs world-class talent alongside him.
He does boast a number of talented team-mates at PSG, such as World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe, but he is the undisputed talisman of the team and virtually untouchable in all that he does.
Former Madrid star Seedorf feels those surroundings are not ideal for Neymar, stating in Sport amid reports of a possible move back to Spain: “Neymar’s talent is undisputed, but he needs a squad that can help him grow in order to give the best of himself because he won’t achieve that on his own.
“I honestly believe that leaving Barcelona so quickly was a terrible sin on his behalf.
“If he had stayed in the club for two more seasons, things could’ve worked out differently for him. But now he is at PSG and that’s the path he needs to follow.
“Neymar also needs a manager who can give him what he needs, because he is still very young and he hasn’t been in Europe for too long.
“He also needs to play alongside other footballers who are better than he is, I’m not talking about players who rival his quality as a footballer but people who have won bigger titles than he has.
“These players can teach him about different experiences and they can also teach him more respect.”
Barcelona have not closed the door on a second spell at Camp Nou for Neymar, while Real Madrid have never made any secret of their interest in a man who fits the ‘Galactico’ recruitment mould at the Santiago Bernabeu.
BBShuvo
232
his life
Vuyailn
206
no Mather what team u play for we all as football are in Messi shadow. Messi controls the game and we try so hard just to control the ball .barca for life .
the_rick
190
I am a barcelona fan but what we did to Neymar broke his heart. we never really appreciated his work for the team especially the historic remontada which everyone knows it was Neymar's moment. but as usuall all the credit went to Messi. Messi is the goat no doubt but when other players perform well we should appreciate them. We all caused the exit of Neymar. No body loves to be in a house where he is not appreciated. I don't know if Ney will return but if he doesn't return then its comprehensible. Antoine Griezman recently opened up that the fear of being in Messi's shadow played a part in his decision to remain at Athletico. If we don't stop this we will keep losing good players.
Elsa98
128
Why neymar why?
Jattfanmessida
74
He left Barça despite most loved player after Messi and Messi himself treat him as a younger brother but his thinking was wrong that he's under Messi's shadow...Now he knows how big mistake he has done because we value things after we loose them...