Ex-teammate of Neymar and Messi at Barcelona, the Spanish Gerard Piqué argued that the Brazilian deserved a Ballon d'Or for what he did in his career, but criticized his move to PSG, assessing that leaving the Catalan club for French football 'harmed him'.
According to the former defender, however, individual awards should not carry as much weight as they do. In Brazil, Piqué gave an interview to the podcast Podpah this Friday (10), talking about topics such as the Kings League and the period with the current number 10 of Santos at Barça.
"For what he did, I'm convinced that (Neymar) deserved a Ballon d'Or. I don't know in which year, but he deserved it. I think going to PSG hurt him. I believe he wanted to go to PSG to win that Ballon d'Or... because he felt that, perhaps, at Barcelona he was a bit overshadowed by Leo (Messi). We tried to convince him not to go to Paris and to stay at Barcelona. We did everything we could. I knew he was leaving when I posted the 'if you stay'", Piqué said. "Everyone thought he was going to stay (after the photo), even me, but it seemed he was already decided and in the end, he had an incredible career. For me, he's one of the greats, even though he doesn't have that Ballon d'Or. I don't understand the importance they give to the Ballon d'Or. Football is a team game, winning the Ballon d'Or gives relevance, but I think Neymar is much more than that", continued the former teammate. "Ney is super special, I think I've never seen a talent as special as Ney's: the one-on-one, how much he unbalances... the smile that reminded me of Ronaldinho, playing happily. It's a spectacle, and the potential he already had at Santos, I remember that final when we beat Santos in the Club World Cup, and that right after he came to Barcelona. We already knew he was a very special boy", Piqué concluded to Podpah.
TheMentor
95
Sometimes changing a team is not the best idea for a player even if you make more money by moving; few examples, Coutinho from Liverpool to Barca, Hazard from Chelsea to RM, Neymar from Barca to PSG
CharlesGlas
32
Dembele won after moving to PSG from Barca but still won the Balon d'or... I think with Neymar its his attitude and discipline towards his craft
Naokmptuz
9
Hypocrites stop disturbing Neymar, Pique focus on your post retirement life. That's is lot. Why didn't PIQUE win BALLON D'OR. At least CANNAVARO won it. BUT OUSMANE DEMBELE won BALLON D'OR with the same Farmer's League despite the odds while DEMBELE couldn't come close to it in BARCA. So let the be be. And we all know that Neymar couldn't have won BALLON D'OR under Messi watch because BARCA has highly elevated one player above all in MESSI. Even the great XAVI & INIESTA could not win BALLON D'OR while MESSI was in BARCA despite the two players coming very close. Neymar too bottled his chances even to international football. Let Neymar enjoy his life and leave BALLON D'or out of his talk