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WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2025
What if MSN never broke up?

Sports

Shams Rahman
16 May, 2020, 05:05 pm
Last modified: 16 July, 2020, 06:35 pm

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What if MSN never broke up?

In this section, we give alternate endings to memorable moments in sports and imagine how it would have impacted the present.

Shams Rahman
16 May, 2020, 05:05 pm
Last modified: 16 July, 2020, 06:35 pm
MSN - Messi, Suarez and Neymar - formed one of the deadliest attacking trios in the world. Photo: Courtesy
MSN - Messi, Suarez and Neymar - formed one of the deadliest attacking trios in the world. Photo: Courtesy

For an extravagant transfer fee of 222 million Euros, Neymar moved from Barcelona to PSG in 2017. Since then, Barcelona have failed to replace him but it has not been great for the Brazilian either. He was touted to be football's next megastar but since moving to PSG, Neymar has failed to stay fit for the whole season and even saw himself not included in the Ballon d'Or top 30 in 2019. 

So, what if Neymar stayed at Barcelona? What if the historic trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar was never broken? 

Transfer fees don't become ridiculous

Neymar's transfer saw a burst in the number of big-money transfers. Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Eden Hazard, Kylian Mbappe, Joao Felix - all of them were brought in to their respective clubs for more than a 100 million Euros price. 

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But this only became possible after PSG decided to pay Neymar's 222 million Euros buyout clause. Once they did, the whole transfer market shook. As a result, it became unstable and player prices increased geometrically, making it even tougher for clubs like Arsenal, who have a comparatively lower transfer budget, to compete against financial giants like Manchester City or Liverpool. 

Barcelona don't fall into chaos  

After Neymar left, all hell broke loose at Barcelona. The board panicked to replace him and brought in Dembele and Coutinho for extreme prices but none of them could deliver. Dembele has struggled with injuries where Coutinho is on loan at Bayern, where he is strangled by injuries too. 

If Neymar never left, things might have not gone south for Barcelona. The Blaugranas have won both the league titles since Neymar left and are leading the current season too, but their quality of performance in the Uefa Champions League (UCL) has dropped because of their way too much Messi-dependency. 

Messi doesn't get burned out every season 

One thing that has happened the most since Neymar left is that Barcelona have become way too much dependent on their mercurial skipper Lionel Messi. With Messi and without Messi, Barcelona are completely the two sides of a coin. And this has led to Messi being burned out in the latter parts of the season as he has to drag his team since the inception of the season. 

But if Neymar was there, the whole workload could be shared and the world could have seen a better version of both of them, leading to a way better version than what are Barcelona nowadays, who are helplessly looking at Messi at every moment to provide a spark of genius. 

Football

MSN / Lionel Messi / Neymar / luis suarez / FC Barcelona

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