The Weekly Digest: Neymar commits future to PSG

The past few weeks have been bittersweet for

fans as they saw their team lose out on the chance for redemption after a defeat against

in the Champions League semifinal and later heard news of Neymar committing his future to the Parisians by signing a contract extension until 2025. They also got to see their team win the Coupe de France with a 2-0 win against Monaco thanks to goals from Mauro Icardi and Kylian Mbappe.

There were many speculations about the Brazilian forward’s future in recent months as many believed he could make another switch and return home to Barcelona, where he rose to greatness alongside the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. There were also rumors claiming that Neymar was thinking about a move to Barcelona’s archrivals Real Madrid, who in fact desperately wanted to sign him way before the Catalans had their eyes on him. Of course obviously PSG fans hoped to see Neymar finally decide to stay in Paris for years to come, which is exactly what has happened.

But while some joke that Florentino Perez is still desperate to bring Neymar to Real Madrid and has been trying to fill his void by signing numerous Brazilian youngsters who play in a similar style— namely Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes and Reinier Jesus—many are arguing about whether the Brazilian superstar has wasted all his tremendous talents at PSG. Many football fans, regardless of them being Neymar fans or not, have voiced their concerns over Neymar wasting his youth and time at PSG by signing another contract extension.

There are many who still reminisce about the days of BBC versus MSN, when Madrid’s Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and

used to go head to head with Barcelona’s

, Luis Suarez and Neymar. There are also thousands of Barcelona fans who are still hurt over the fact that their crown prince suddenly decided to move on to another club just to get out of Lionel Messi’s shadow.

Of course Barca supporters are somehow used to such heartbreaks since their very own ex-captain Luis Figo left for Real Madrid in an outrageous fashion, which has left the Catalonians despising the Portuguese legend till date. Neymar joined PSG from Barcelona for a massive world record fee of €222 million back in 2017, which threw the Catalan club’s board into a phase of complete panic.

Not even the Blaugrana could replace Neymar with just about anyone, which was proven by how they hastily spent even more money than they had received for Neymar’s transfer just to acquire Philippe Coutinho (who spent a successful loan spell at Bayern Munich and is back at Barcelona as a bench warmer) and Ousmane Dembele (who has spent a lot more time sitting on the stands due to injury than actually playing on the pitch and helping his side).

Now that the Brazilian superstar has signed a contract extension until 2025, PSG fans could breathe a sigh of relief and hope that

would do the same as well, with many still fearing their crown jewel could leave for Real Madrid in the coming seasons.

Neymar seemed ecstatic to have signed a new contract at PSG. He also gave an interview and revealed everything about his decision to commit his future to the Parisians, which was posted on PSG’s official website. During the interview, Neymar claimed the following:

“I’m very happy, very happy to be extending my contract with Parisuntil 2025. The truth is that I’m very happy to be staying here for four more years to be a part of the club’s project, to try and win titles, to try and achieve our biggest dream which is the Champions League. So, I’m happy to be staying at the club, to be a part of it and to be extending my contract.”

He also added that: “The first factor is happiness, the joy of being part of this squad, of the team, of Paris Saint-Germain, the club. And then, of course, with the affinity you have with the club, with the work, with the players that are in the squad today, with a coach who is a great coach and will certainly help us even more. So, these things make you believe in the project more.”

Nasser Al-Khelaifi, PSG’s chief executive, commented on Neymar’s contract extension and said: “The core of our ambitious project to grow PSG is the heart, talent and dedication of our players. I am proud that

has reaffirmed his long-term commitment to the PSG family through to 2025, and will continue to delight fans. We are very happy to see him continue as part of our project and to be alongside us for many years to come.”

A look at Neymar’s career so far

Neymar has had a glittering career so far, filled with numerous major trophies that have turned him into a global superstar. That is why we decided to take a brief look at his career and analyze his overall performance.

Santos FC

Back in 2009, Brazil was blessed to welcome one of the most talented footballers of the new era onto the professional stage. That young sensation was obviously Neymar Junior, who had just gotten promoted to the senior squad of

.

From the very first moments, all eyes were on the young forward, who was cutting through the opposition defense like hot knife through butter. Having set foot on a path to glory, it didn’t take long for Neymar to become a fan-favorite and a regular starter for Santos the next season, when he proved too crucial of a player for the Brazilian side.

He went on to score a phenomenal 42 goals in 60 games for Santos in 2010, which led to him becoming an even more sought-after youngster, despite already having attracted a lot of attention from Real Madrid and

, with the former even attempting to sign the Brazilian years before his professional debut.

It only got better for Neymar from then on, as he won the 2011 Puskas Award for his brilliant solo goal against

, which unfortunately didn’t help much in the end as they lost the game 5-4. His phenomenal performance in 2011 also earned him the 2011 South American Footballer of the Year Award, which led to many teams investing in his signature. Of course, as we all know, Neymar joined Barcelona from Santos for reportedly €88 million in 2013, giving birth to one of the deadliest trios the world of football has ever seen a year later in 2014.

He won a total of six trophies during his time at Santos, winning three consecutive Campeonato Paulista trophies, a Copa do Brasil, the 2011 Copa Libertadores and the 2012 Recopa Sudamericana.

Barcelona

When Neymar joined Barcelona, everyone believed that the Brazilian had found his eternal home, where he would grow up and rise to fame and glory, while being cherished and adored by millions and millions of Barca fans from across the globe. He even managed to break the presentation day attendance record for a Brazilian player, as more than 56,000 fans went to the stadium to see Neymar in a Barca shirt from up-close for the first time.

All of this was just too good to be true as Neymar would link up with his pals Leo Messi and

to wreak havoc on the pitch against any and every team they played against. It didn’t take long for him to win his first trophy at Barcelona, as the Catalans won the 2013 Supercopa de Espana against Atletico Madrid thanks to the away goals rule and the fact that the crucial away goal was scored by none other than Neymar himself.

While the first season was all about adapting to Barca’s play style and their ideals, the second season was when Neymar fired on all cylinders and helped the Catalans win the treble. The MSN trio actually broke the record for the most goals scored in a season in Spanish football history with a mind-blowing total of 122 goals. The last two seasons at Barcelona were not nearly as epic as the 2014-15 season, but it was still memorable for football fans as the MSN trio broke their record for most goals scored in a single season and finished the 2015-16 season with 131 goals.

Also, let us not forget the historic “La Remontada”, which literally translates to “the comeback”, when Barcelona put on a show for the history books as they miraculously came back from a 4-0 defeat in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 against PSG and scored an unbelievable number of six goals in the return leg to win on aggregate. This match has caused so much controversy through the years, and even caused speculation about Neymar’s future at PSG after the Brazilian claimed that the most memorable game of his life was the comeback against the Parisians.

Paris Saint-Germain

It didn’t take long for Barcelona fans to experience yet another major heartbreak as their crown prince decided to leave their club and join Paris Saint-Germain in a world record-breaking deal that saw the Parisians pay a whopping €222 million to Barcelona, which was the exact amount of Neymar’s release clause. His sudden move to PSG cause the internet to explode as everyone was suddenly talking about the controversial move and how it would go on to affect PSG, Barca and Neymar himself.

Just like how Real Madrid haven’t been the same since Ronaldo left and the Portuguese striker hasn’t been able to repeat his past success at Juventus, both Neymar and Barcelona’s chances of winning any major European trophies fell through the skies as neither have since been able to win the Champions League.

The closest that the Brazilian forward has come to winning the UCL with PSG was the previous season, when they lost the final to the sextuple-winning

, who proved to be too much for any of the teams they faced, especially Barcelona, who were humiliated in an 8-2 defeat against the German side. Now that Neymar has signed a contract extension with Paris Saint-Germain, the French club’s supporters will be hopeful that they can push for the title a couple of times more as they stay hopeful to get Kylian Mbappe’s signature on a contract extension as well.

Of course many are also worried that Neymar has stayed only for sweet money that he earns at PSG, which is believed to be an eye-watering figure of €30 million in annual salary, which would make his overall earnings a gargantuan amount of €120 million until the end of his current contract.

This concern is fueled by how many injuries the Brazilian winger has suffered throughout the years, with him only being available for 35% of Ligue 1 games this season. He has only made a total of 27 appearances in the 2020-21 season, but hasn’t disappointed anyone, having scored an impressive 15 goals and provided 10 assists in the process.

There are only a couple of questions left that many are currently asking each other: Will Neymar ever be able to win the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain and finally bring European glory to the Parisians? And will Neymar stay at PSG until the end of his career? Or will he decide to move to another club before hanging up his boots? Obviously there is still quite a long road ahead of Neymar, as he is only 29 years old and there are many like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who are still slaying it on the pitch at 40 years old.

What do you think? What does the future hold for Neymar and Paris Saint-Germain? Will he ever get to reunite with his old pal Lionel Messi? Will he finally break the curse of not winning the Champions League? All will be answered in the coming seasons of course, but new and rising stars are joining the elite every year and the Brazilian winger has still not managed to make history at PSG.

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