Revealed: Neymar breaks silence on his Barcelona departure and PSG career

In an exclusive interview with Romario, Neymar talked about his past experience playing for many clubs, his choice to leave Barcelona and switch to Paris, as well as his relationship with his old teammate Messi and others. Talked about future plans.

Neymar tells Romário: "I don't have any regrets in my career".

"All of the mistakes I had in my career, in my life choices were to help me grow, help me mature so I don't regret anything.

"I don't regret my choice to pick Barcelona over Real Madrid. I went with my heart there.

"I obviously wanted to play with Messi! Barça was the team I loved. I always watched, since the era of Ronaldinho I always said: I want to play there. It happened.

"Those were intense days. It was 2 or 3 days where I wasn't even training, just going from my house to the office to resolve this. It was Real Madrid's people calling me from one side & Barcelona's people calling me from the other. Both presidents were talking to me. I couldn't rationalize. I imagined myself playing for both… But then my heart spoke louder. I ended up choosing Barcelona."

Before the Dynasty

"I don't regret my choice to pick Barcelona over Real Madrid. I went with my heart there.

"I obviously wanted to play with Messi! Barça was the team I loved. I always watched, since the era of Ronaldinho I always said: I want to play there. It happened.

"Those were intense days. It was 2 or 3 days where I wasn’t even training, just going from my house to the office to resolve this. It was Real Madrid's people calling me from one side & Barcelona's people calling me from the other. Both presidents were talking to me. I couldn't rationalize. I imagined myself playing for both… But then my heart spoke louder. I ended up choosing Barcelona."

Time in Barcelona

Neymar tells Romário: "I spent the first 6 months at Barça with butterflies in my stomach. I was like… f*ck, I can't dribble anyone, I can't get by anyone, I'm doing everything all wrong!.

"There was a day I was so despaired. It was going half time. I remember it until this day, it was against Athletic Bilbao, I went into the dressing room pissed at myself. I was playing so bad. I went into the washroom crying by myself thinking "what am I doing?". Then knocked on the door and it was Messi.

"He asked me: why are you crying? I said nah I'm good, I'm good”.

"Then Dani Alves came and Messi said: Calm down, we’re here to help you. We want you to play your best football like you did at Santos, without any pressure. If you need anything you can count on me.

"After that I become more confident. More excited to play and everything started to go well!"

Barca Departure

"I didn't leave Barça to be the best in the world at PSG.

"Messi told me: 'Why are you leaving? Do you want to be the best player in the world? I can make you the best player in the world'.

"I told him no. It's not that. It's something personal. Obviously financially, it was better than what I had at Barcelona… and there were Brazilians there too.

"I wanted to play with the Brazilians. There was Thiago Silva, Dani Alves just signed, Marquinhos, Lucas Moura. They were all my friends."

Things between Mbappe & Messi

Neymar says,"Mbappé was not annoying! When Messi came, I think he became a little jealous…

"I had my things with him, we had a little fight. He was a boy that in the beginning was key, I used to call him 'Golden Boy', I was spoke to him, played around with him, told him he'd be one of the best, I always help, always had conversations with him.

"When Leo arrived, he became a little jealous. He didn't want to share me with anyone! [laughs] That's how the fights started, the change in behaviour."

What went wrong at PSG?

"What went wrong at PSG? Ego. Ego.

"I think having an ego is good, thinking you're the best… but, you have realize to don't play by yourself.

"Nowadays if not everyone helps, it's impossible to win something."

Future Thoughts

Neymar: "Saudi Arabia surprised me. The possibility of me staying in Saudi after my contract exists.

"Let's see, in 6 months a lot can change…", he told Romário.