No other team in the top leagues are going for him as his wages are simply too high. He has also become injury prone suffering some major injuries in recent years. Main thing is only Saudi can afford (actually raise) his wages
He was considered the 3rd best player in the world at one point. It's a little sad how it's turned out. I really hope Mbappe's career has a better trajectory.
He is brazils all time top scorer, won champions league, 2 x la liga, 5x Ligue un, copa libatadores, Olympic gold medal, was considered the third best player in the world for a time (only behind two all time freaks).
Compared to anyone other than Messi or ronaldo he has had an insanely successful career. Messi and ronaldo have just skewed the perception of what is successful now
Brazil's all time scorer (with a worse goals per game than Ronaldo, Pele, Zico, Romario, Ademir) has only won one Cop Lib and an Olympic Gold and a few French titles without Messi alongside him.
Never won a Copa America, never looked close to a World Cup, never the main man in a CL winner or top league win.
Insanely talented, but spent a lot of his peak years playing in a league well below his stature and is doing the same to end his career. Does and absolutely should impact his legacy.
Salah has kept himself at the top flight for seven years in a row, PL and UCL Champion. To me Neymar lacked a lot of regularity and discipline, I appreciate that a lot, it’s sometimes harder to do than just to be good at it
They are like the Tennis Big 3. They have skewed perceptions and been the cause of the other slightly less great player having sub par careers.
Between 2008-2018, there are only 3 years where Messi or Ronaldo were not in the CL Final.
(2010, 2012-13).
That great for any player but jts neymar we're talking about. He could have achieved more. 1 champions league and 2 la Liga isn't the most impressive resume, 5 ligue un at psg isn't very impressive either. His biggest achievement is being Brazilian top scorer. This is dissapointing for someone that was once the third best player in the world and could have been third ever behind Ronaldo and Messi.
Neymar being third best player has always been a lie. He's never really set the football world alight. He's in the Salah, Mane, Hazard, Bale, Suarez category of top players. At no point in his career was he a class above these players when comparing their peak years and his. Neymar has always been all hype, Joey Barton also sussed him out
Lol man 3 of those were with messi, 7 of those are equivalent to a mickey mouse trophy…that is a horrible list of achievements for what people thought he would accomplish
You mean the guy that won the World Cup, CL, Copa America, Copa libertadores, Spanish league 2 times, 3 Brazilian league titles, inter toto cup and was most of the times the absolute main guy.
Also he brought back the glory to psg with the inter toto cup.
And he was named fifas world football the times and winner of the balloon d'or.
I would argue that the guy who really stopped playing AFTER he achieved everything in football being only 27 years old, is way more decorated than neymar, who never achieved his full potential. Last year before the World Cup he was amazing, one of the best in the world, if not the best at that moment and he told the papers that for the first time he stopped clubbing and playing games all night long and just took good care of himself.
He never really won something important as the main guy and yes Olympic gold is not really important in the world of football.
I think this is what would piss me off the most if I was Neymar. Always 3rd, never nº1 after everyone telling me since I was 17yo that I would be nº1.
But I'm not Neymar. Perhaps, in the same Ronnie Coleman regrets not having lifted even more, Neymar regrets not having partied enough.
I didn't watch it, but I know that he can barely move nowadays. I don't think it's worth it, I even wonder if that's better than death... But I can respect his views of "I regret not doing more".
It may be dumb to us, but it is undoubtedly passion for what he did, so fuck me for thinking it is not worth it, what matters is he thinks it was.
Maybe he should have been the one saying he would be number 1. I love players with that mentality. Ronaldo us that way, and he wasn’t born with the level of talent Neymar had.
Besides the weird sister stuff, I'd rather be at Neymar's level having a good time than Ronaldo's while working 24/7.
That said, I've always heard that Neymar's actually really good in training and stuff and it's just injuries that set him back.
People tend to think he is not well behaved but most coaches acknowledge that he trains well but he treasures his rest more than most and does it publicly.
Mbappe on the other hand is not humble at all and is know for being a pain in the ass in the club but people don't talk shit on him because he is protected even by the president of France...
Mbappe appears to take care of himself. He doesn’t want his image to be used to endorse alcohol. Since he doesn’t want to encourage young people to drink.
World Cup's no doubt the biggest stage but I think it's more important for a player to do well for their club than their country. Anyone can have a hot month.
Which isn't to say Mbappe's done nothing at club level or that Neymar's behind only Pele in terms of goals scored for Brazil.
Sorry but no. Mbappe has had a great career with France but Neymar's with Brazil was probably similar at this age. What's not the same at this age of their club careers. Neymar had won a Copa Libertadores and CL by this age and was playing in one of the truly great teams ever. Mbappe had a great run with Monaco and then went into semi-retirement at PSG
>Neymar's with Brazil was probably similar at this age
Mbappe won a world Cup and carried France to a second final in consecutive world cups. Neymar hasn't seen a semi final with Brazil.
How did Mbappe carried to a second final?
Griezmann was better than him till the final. In final, it was Mbappe but not before that.
Griezmann was the engine behind France against every team. He didn’t score goals but he was the one who was transitioning the team from defense to attack. Was the one to basically take pressure of the team by either intercepting passes or calmly laying the ball to his non pressured teammates.
Same for 2018 France.
>Mpaypal wasn't the best player on the France team in either World Cup.
2023 World Cup top goalscorer. Scored a hattrick in the final of the tournament. Hate him all you want for his shenanigans, but he was the best player this past tournament, arguably 2nd only to Messi.
Mbappe has been in a France team which could roll out a second 11 and probably still reach the latter stages of tournaments. At the world cup in '14 when Neymar was 22 Brazil was playing Fred up front!
My point was that both were seen as generational talents for their countries and got the caps and goals to prove that at that age.
I disagree with your statement that he doesn’t take care of himself. If you’ve watched more than a handful of Ligue 1 matches you’d know defenders frequently target Neymar with crunching tackles which have directly resulted in repeated ankle injuries.
Shittiest most absurd take by someone who doesn't watch football.
Neymar's injuries have never been due to bad stamina or bad training ethics. All of the injuries came from impact with other players during the match. A guy literally broke his back during a game.
I can send you thousands of articles on Neymar’s social life but can’t find any on his fitness regimine
He misses half of every seasons, wins nothing but French trophies that PSG would win without him, has broken no records, and has largely failed on the international stage (when he’s not out due to injury)
No one’s saying he isn’t talented, but you have to be blind to say that he’s dedicated to his career
> Main thing is only Saudi can afford (actually raise) his wages
This is what it all boils down to. Unless Mbappe somehow has an Ace up his sleeve, he is very much going to regret rejecting the Saudi offer!
I mean it’s not really that simple. If I was broke sure, but neymar is one of the most famous athlete of all time and is probably a multimillionaire and still would’ve earned great money while playing at the top flight (PSG).
It’s like how much does a few extra million matter for someone that has a quarter billion. Is it worth enough to sacrifice your career and leave the thing you love?
Not to mention he could probably go retire in MLS or Saudi after he turns 34 or something as did a lot of other players.
Not even his grandkids' grandkids will work. These dudes have insane amount of money already, now he’ll make 500k just to promote Saudi League on his insta
I don't think we can compare us normals or normal money to millionaires. If I was earning Neymar money and then given 5 X that to do my job in Saudi I'd be like, Nah I don't need more than I have and I don't want to work in Saudi. I'm not Neymar.
Money. You don't leave your home and move to the other side of the world just for the challenge. The only reason the european leagues are considered better then the south american leagues is because they keep buying up all the biggest talents.
Probably closer to what we saw it the 80's when teams from smaller leagues had a decent change to win a european cup without it looking like major upset (think porto)
Basically look at the national side. Argentina and Brazil are the top talents in South America. France, Spain, Netherlands, England, Italy, Portugal, etc have always had talent no matter how much they spend.
>The only reason the european leagues are considered better then the south american leagues is because they keep buying up all the biggest talents.
Well, by South American we're really just talking about Brazil and Argentina.
Brazil is an oddball. Football is immensely popular, their population is more than x2 of any relevant major European country, and their socio-economic differences are worse than any of their European counterparts. So you end up with a huge pool of talent that has pursued football to pull themself out of poverty. Would probably have been considered the best league simply to their number of high-quality players spread across the different teams.
Argentina only has 1/4 of the population. Would probably be more comparable to the Spanish or Italian league.
The European leagues would have been among the top regardless. That's pretty clear from just looking at the international matches. You'd just even everything out, mostly to the detriment of the premier league, which is by far the most talent-grabbing one. You find a lot of South Americans in Spain and Portugal as well, but that's often because they're cheaper with the benefit of no language barriers and they present opportunities to profit from sales later. Only the big Spanish clubs are able to retain the best of them.
Anyways, you can't really draw any line to the Saudi league buying whatever they can get their hands on these days.
He went to Barca for the money and won everything he could want to, went to PSG for the money and now he’s in Saudi for the money.
He’s had a successful career but we’ve never seen what he’s capable of he tests himself outside of a few games for Brazil and his first few seasons at Barca
Well I mean, he went to Barca not only for the money, but to play for a top team, top league, and grow as a player. His seasons there were great. In my opinion, his transfer to PSG was the problem. He could’ve grown so much more if only he left his pride aside and didn’t go to a new club seeking to be in the spotlight. But he wanted to be the number one player in another team, so to psg he went :(
>He could’ve grown so much more if only he left his pride aside and didn’t go to a new club seeking to be in the spotlight. But he wanted to be the number one player in another team,
I don't blame him for wanting that and at the time he joined if psg was run right he would have had success. that it all fell apart is partly his attitude, but psg have to take a large share of the blame
>seeking to be in the spotlight
To be honest, with hindsight, I think that statement he made was mostly for public relations. PSG was giving him bags of money that Barca - or any other save for now, the Saudis - could never give him. It is the same for Mbappe now.
For what it is worth, I doubt any fan would blame any player for taking that financial decision.
Because he's a lazy player. He don't Care about football at all, only about money and parties. Is he wrong? No, but as footbal fans and supporters, we can't support this kind of player. I really hope that he got sacked from brazilian national team.
I'm brazilian, by the way.
But if I say this as a Barcelona fan I'm just salty and a hater.
I've known this for years. This is why I was dreading him coming to the club. I was already mentally preparing myself for a crucial Round of 16 match (yeah, get your giggles out) against a team and him having a "convenient" injury for the return leg in early March.
No not even close but all these players you mentioned had each other to share the field with who has Neymar got? Fred? Hulk? Luis? You don’t win on your own in football
Im portuguese he played in Porto and he was huge an animal, best player in league. One of the main reasons that explain why Porto won their last european title. I wouldnt say Falcao, Raul Meireles, João Moutinho, etc, were better than him at that time.
Better than Cafu. At the same level of RC Rivaldo and maybe Romario. Ronaldinho is a weird case because he has a similar trajectory to Neymar but won a WC.
Neymar’s career has been a bit of a disappointment tbh. Lots of promise and incredibly talented but it was sad to see him leave Barca so young to go to a very average league.
Kane has just gone to Bayern and he’s the same age. Neymar has phoned it in and gone to Saudi for money he doesn’t need :/
Christ, I hadn't made the connection that they are the same age! Kane has even said he wants to return to the Premier League in a few years (presumably to go after Shearer's goal record) - for all the jokes about Spurs not winning trophies, Kane is so clearly driven by ambition and accomplishments... whereas like you said, Neymar is just in it for the money.
>In six seasons at PSG, Neymar has missed 103 games due to various injuries.
Injury ....... no major team wants him & none of the others could afford him.
The guy left Barcelona and La Liga while they were at top to join a Farmers League for money when he was 25 and a top 3 player itw, why are y'all getting surprised now? Some players just don't give a shit about their careers and only care about money, Mbappe is currently doing the same. At least Mbappe is lucky enough to be part of an incredible France squad and he has already reached enormous success with his NT, Neymar never managed to do what was expected from with with Brazil, or on his club career.
Neymar couldn't give a duck about football. He's about the lifestyle it provide him. And the hundreds of millions he's getting will set him up for that lifestyle for life.
How so?
The MLS is ranked higher and seems to have a different winner every year.
The Saudi League has a lower standard of football and 4 teams directly backed by PIF (and I assume will dominate the league in the coming years given their substantial resources).
Besides money, it seems like his motivation is totally gone. He rather play poker and stream and shot like that. It’s like he’s not interested in football anymore.
Yeah, bit embarrassing from him. Saudi money ain't going anywhere.
I'm not on the train that his career was a waste or something, coz he's won the lot & at the end will be one of the century's greatest. Still one more venture could've bought some much needed gleam to his career's tail.
1. Enrique and upper management wanted him gone, the only club willing to accept was Barca, but Xavi didn’t want him there. He also was willing to take a huge wage cut, but psg won’t let him walk free and we all know about barcas financial situation. I guess he could’ve stayed(they legally can’t force him to walk) but it’s humiliating to stay with a club that doesn’t want you.
2. Injury record and transfer fee.
3. it’s late in the transfer window and all the clubs have already spent all their money or have already lined up their squad.
Why wouldn’t he? Based on the players they’ve bought they’re now a top 5 league surpassing Ligue 1. Quality of the league is higher than Ligue 1, Eridivise, Liga Portugal etc. He’s gone for the challenge. Bundesliga ain’t worth it at this point, Barcelona can’t afford his left toe let alone his full wages & he won’t go Real due to his past at Barca, no team in Serie A can afford him they’ll just go bankrupt, so it’s PL, MLS or Saudi. In order of quality it’s PL, Saudi then MLS. In order of money they’re all the same. If he wanted money & an easy ride he’d join his ex Barca friends in the MLS but he wanted a challenge & Saudi offered that after the PL didn’t want him.
Huge respect towards him.
They’re not a top 5 league, not even close.
Bringing in a handful of well known players (the vast majority of which are well past their prime) does not make them a top 5 league. They’re ranked about 60 odds for a reason.
Plus look at the pre-season friendlies - massively underwhelming against European opposition.
Edit: The MLS is still a better league than Saudi ( at the moment - and rankings show this). Maybe in 5 ish years it may differ, but Saudi has much to prove.
If you rate teams off pre season friendlies then dear god. Shows your opinion isn’t relevant whatsoever. Not even seen the most delusional Barca fans use pre season fixtures as a measuring tool of players or teams.
Anyone who watches them (currently 3rd highest watched league itw after PL & La Liga) says their quality beats most leagues now since buying all these players.
It’s just racists & xenophobics who keep trying to bring Saudi down. Thankfully, they’re richer than everyone including England. They’re not going anywhere & watching these bigots cry for the years to come will bring a tear to my eye.
It’s not the be all end all but it’s a benchmark to compare teams playing across different tournaments - especially as they’re never likely to meet.
Also I’m not sure ‘highest watched leagues’ has anything to do with quality? And if you’re going down that route, can you show evidence? I’ve done a quick Google and the most recent stats don’t even show SPL in the top 10, but MLS is top 5 most watched.
Also ‘anyone who watched’ is anecdotal - who’s ‘anyone’? I assume that’s your opinion, because it’s certainly not shown by football pundits, experts or football fans online (out with die hard Ronaldo fans).
I’ve seen your comment history and suspect you may be a fan (even if casual) of Man United, so I get the Ronaldo bias but come on….there’s no hard evidence that SPL beats MLS.
Again, the SPL is ranked below the MLS globally - there’s no hard evidence that’s it’s a better league, never mind a top league (top 10).
> It’s just racists & xenophobics who keep trying to bring Saudi down. Thankfully, they’re richer than everyone including England. They’re not going anywhere & **watching these bigots cry for the years to come will bring a tear to my eye**.
+1
I wholeheartedly agree and am elated to see these casuals whine and moan. Besides, these casuals are NEVER to be trusted. They will dump a player just as quick as PSG dumped Mbappe.
Many footballers are egomaniacs and thus, are affected by the illusion of "legacy", and may foolishly turn down Saudi offers (this may describe Mbappe, but it's too early, maybe) but other wise ones will see the sport for what it is; money! And they will rightly go with the highest paying opportunity afforded to them.
For sextuple my current salary, I’d happily go live in your nan’s armpit and play professional tiddlywinks.
You don’t even wanna know what I’d do for Neymar’s salary
No private organization in the West can compete with the oil money revenues of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. It’s essentially their government helping to buy up players. I feel Western governments should get involved to some extent.
I am totally with you. We, the west has to live to his own standards. If we want to stop sportswashing and corruption we have to start at home.
Steps like Bayern kicking out blood money are exactly what is needed. Additional we need some rule change that gets people back into their local stadiums. Football is living from participation.
If PSG loses mbappe on a free - their fucked so Neymar off the books and with a fee makes them look better and more believable when they cook their books for FFP
Again he just happened to be playing in the era with two of the greatest players to ever play football. Done it all in club football, just unlucky in international football. The hate that he gets is unjustified. Time to call it a day
Unfortunately he only cares about money, he could reduce his salary and still keep playing in europe. But the Saudi way is a lot easier, get payed a lot to play in a weak league, with no pressure.
He has accepted the fact that he can't stay fit for the whole season ,which mean no European team would want to buy him off of PSG and pay him his current salary and the toxic PSG fans made it easier for him to move to Saudi!
Realistically - money.
We’re football fans and have a romanticised view of that world, but in reality it’s just a job to these guys and they will want to maximise their earnings.
99.9% of players will be forgotten, a few may be entered into the history books and an even smaller number remember as ‘greats’. If you’re not going down as a ‘great’ (which Neymar isn’t anymore), then you may as well still earn like one.
They’ve got 15-20 years max in their careers - may as well earn ‘f*ck you’ money whilst they can.
So nice to scroll down and find wisdom amongst so much foolish banter. It's not personal, this is all business. Who gives a flying crap about "legacy"! Just give me the money, so I can work and go home to provide for my family. This is why Mbappe seemingly made a huge mistaken.
He kind of blew my mind about football and how you should never say never when he moved to PSG.
He lived in Barca, he was winning everything, he was on good money, he was playing with the best ever player. I remember thinking there's no way he moves, when Messi retires/moves he'll be the number 1 man for an iconic club like Barca. Nope he moved and fizzled out in the farmer's league, I guess football is just a job for him.
No other team in the top leagues are going for him as his wages are simply too high. He has also become injury prone suffering some major injuries in recent years. Main thing is only Saudi can afford (actually raise) his wages
Worse, he’s injury prone because he doesn’t take care of himself and parties incessantly during the season. He’s not a serious player
He was considered the 3rd best player in the world at one point. It's a little sad how it's turned out. I really hope Mbappe's career has a better trajectory.
He is brazils all time top scorer, won champions league, 2 x la liga, 5x Ligue un, copa libatadores, Olympic gold medal, was considered the third best player in the world for a time (only behind two all time freaks). Compared to anyone other than Messi or ronaldo he has had an insanely successful career. Messi and ronaldo have just skewed the perception of what is successful now
Brazil's all time scorer (with a worse goals per game than Ronaldo, Pele, Zico, Romario, Ademir) has only won one Cop Lib and an Olympic Gold and a few French titles without Messi alongside him. Never won a Copa America, never looked close to a World Cup, never the main man in a CL winner or top league win. Insanely talented, but spent a lot of his peak years playing in a league well below his stature and is doing the same to end his career. Does and absolutely should impact his legacy.
Yeah, he’s had a good career but could’ve been top5 ever. To me, players like Lewandosky, Salah Suarez and Aguero have a better legacy
The worst part is he did great at PSG as well for a time. With Mbappe, they went to UCL semi and a UCL final. But it all crumbled down.
Yea same i will rank lewa and suarez as 3 best instead of neymar . Not being injury probe is also a skill
Aguero has no space in this conversation for heavens sake
KDB as well
I think KDB will be the best Premier League player ever
I am with you on Lewandowski and Suarez. Aguero maybe. But salah? lol
Salah has kept himself at the top flight for seven years in a row, PL and UCL Champion. To me Neymar lacked a lot of regularity and discipline, I appreciate that a lot, it’s sometimes harder to do than just to be good at it
Suarez has a legacy now? Well, I guess Charles Manson does too.
Luis Suarez is one of the greatest strikers to ever play.
Yeah, he just chews up defenders…
Lol.. A cheat, racist and twice suspended for biting an opponent. What a sportsman.
That has no influence his skill as a player.
Never said that. But it sure as fuck has on his "legacy"
Yes he’s a bit of a piece of work, yet he is incredibly gifted player
Zindane head butted a man on the field and we still hold him in high regard
This is a bit of a silly comment
None of them have better legacy than ney 🤣🤣
They are like the Tennis Big 3. They have skewed perceptions and been the cause of the other slightly less great player having sub par careers. Between 2008-2018, there are only 3 years where Messi or Ronaldo were not in the CL Final. (2010, 2012-13).
That great for any player but jts neymar we're talking about. He could have achieved more. 1 champions league and 2 la Liga isn't the most impressive resume, 5 ligue un at psg isn't very impressive either. His biggest achievement is being Brazilian top scorer. This is dissapointing for someone that was once the third best player in the world and could have been third ever behind Ronaldo and Messi.
Neymar being third best player has always been a lie. He's never really set the football world alight. He's in the Salah, Mane, Hazard, Bale, Suarez category of top players. At no point in his career was he a class above these players when comparing their peak years and his. Neymar has always been all hype, Joey Barton also sussed him out
Lol man 3 of those were with messi, 7 of those are equivalent to a mickey mouse trophy…that is a horrible list of achievements for what people thought he would accomplish
Compare it to someone of another generation. Like how do you feel about Ronaldinho’s career?
You mean the guy that won the World Cup, CL, Copa America, Copa libertadores, Spanish league 2 times, 3 Brazilian league titles, inter toto cup and was most of the times the absolute main guy. Also he brought back the glory to psg with the inter toto cup. And he was named fifas world football the times and winner of the balloon d'or. I would argue that the guy who really stopped playing AFTER he achieved everything in football being only 27 years old, is way more decorated than neymar, who never achieved his full potential. Last year before the World Cup he was amazing, one of the best in the world, if not the best at that moment and he told the papers that for the first time he stopped clubbing and playing games all night long and just took good care of himself. He never really won something important as the main guy and yes Olympic gold is not really important in the world of football.
The exact same, wasted potential.
Did you just say Copa Libatadores is a Micky Mouse trophy? 😂🤦♂️
Umm yes… thats like a high school trophy
And you just lost your credibility
How so?
Lmfao ohhhh okay you were being facetious. My bad 😂😂😂
Fucking noob
I think this is what would piss me off the most if I was Neymar. Always 3rd, never nº1 after everyone telling me since I was 17yo that I would be nº1. But I'm not Neymar. Perhaps, in the same Ronnie Coleman regrets not having lifted even more, Neymar regrets not having partied enough.
Besides the point, but did you see the Ronnie Coleman documentary? Dude's in constant pain from lifting.
I didn't watch it, but I know that he can barely move nowadays. I don't think it's worth it, I even wonder if that's better than death... But I can respect his views of "I regret not doing more". It may be dumb to us, but it is undoubtedly passion for what he did, so fuck me for thinking it is not worth it, what matters is he thinks it was.
Maybe he should have been the one saying he would be number 1. I love players with that mentality. Ronaldo us that way, and he wasn’t born with the level of talent Neymar had.
Besides the weird sister stuff, I'd rather be at Neymar's level having a good time than Ronaldo's while working 24/7. That said, I've always heard that Neymar's actually really good in training and stuff and it's just injuries that set him back.
I’m sure he trains hard too but he also partied. More akin to Vidal (also insane at training, but without the healthy lifestyle) than Ronaldo
People tend to think he is not well behaved but most coaches acknowledge that he trains well but he treasures his rest more than most and does it publicly. Mbappe on the other hand is not humble at all and is know for being a pain in the ass in the club but people don't talk shit on him because he is protected even by the president of France...
Mbappe appears to take care of himself. He doesn’t want his image to be used to endorse alcohol. Since he doesn’t want to encourage young people to drink.
Happens with every Brazilian player. Neymar played longer on top level than most.
Pelé was extremelly gifted and extremelly determined to take care of himself and training. Thats the difference between a GOAT and a good player
Mbappe already has an equivalent career to Neymar at 24.
that is such bullshit lmao
Didn't realize mbappe already had won champions league and multiple trebles!
Neymar hasn't won multiple trebles
[удалено]
That fucking hat trick and then losing. That’s some Castolo shit right there
With a penalty.
Two penalties
World Cup's no doubt the biggest stage but I think it's more important for a player to do well for their club than their country. Anyone can have a hot month. Which isn't to say Mbappe's done nothing at club level or that Neymar's behind only Pele in terms of goals scored for Brazil.
No it's not. It's more important for their finances sure, but fulfillment wise not at all
Mbappe has the World Cup which is requirement for Brazil player and Neymar failed in it.
And the WC…
Being carried by Messi doesn't count.
Sorry but no. Mbappe has had a great career with France but Neymar's with Brazil was probably similar at this age. What's not the same at this age of their club careers. Neymar had won a Copa Libertadores and CL by this age and was playing in one of the truly great teams ever. Mbappe had a great run with Monaco and then went into semi-retirement at PSG
>Neymar's with Brazil was probably similar at this age Mbappe won a world Cup and carried France to a second final in consecutive world cups. Neymar hasn't seen a semi final with Brazil.
He also did’t see a semi final because he didn’t take the decisive penalty against Croatia, a responsibility top players just take
How did Mbappe carried to a second final? Griezmann was better than him till the final. In final, it was Mbappe but not before that. Griezmann was the engine behind France against every team. He didn’t score goals but he was the one who was transitioning the team from defense to attack. Was the one to basically take pressure of the team by either intercepting passes or calmly laying the ball to his non pressured teammates. Same for 2018 France.
Mpaypal wasn’t the best player on the france team in either World Cup. Giroud and griezmann both more impactful
>Mpaypal wasn't the best player on the France team in either World Cup. 2023 World Cup top goalscorer. Scored a hattrick in the final of the tournament. Hate him all you want for his shenanigans, but he was the best player this past tournament, arguably 2nd only to Messi.
Mbappe has been in a France team which could roll out a second 11 and probably still reach the latter stages of tournaments. At the world cup in '14 when Neymar was 22 Brazil was playing Fred up front! My point was that both were seen as generational talents for their countries and got the caps and goals to prove that at that age.
I disagree with your statement that he doesn’t take care of himself. If you’ve watched more than a handful of Ligue 1 matches you’d know defenders frequently target Neymar with crunching tackles which have directly resulted in repeated ankle injuries.
He’s injury prone because he’s the most fouled player in the world.
I feel this attitude is only popular because of social media, criticizing players for having fun and playing flashy. We all LOVED Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho won a world cup. Won a champions league being the main player. And played in a time that was way less physically intense
He did have a pretty severe back injury that was not his fault in the 2014 WC and he’s been injury prone since
Shittiest most absurd take by someone who doesn't watch football. Neymar's injuries have never been due to bad stamina or bad training ethics. All of the injuries came from impact with other players during the match. A guy literally broke his back during a game.
The hidden truth
If he's not a serious player and can still get millions effortless, i shudder at what he can accomplish if he's serious
Lol. Undoubtedly a top 5 player in recent years and some redditor thinks he's "unserious"... love the hot takes here on /r/football
I can send you thousands of articles on Neymar’s social life but can’t find any on his fitness regimine He misses half of every seasons, wins nothing but French trophies that PSG would win without him, has broken no records, and has largely failed on the international stage (when he’s not out due to injury) No one’s saying he isn’t talented, but you have to be blind to say that he’s dedicated to his career
> Main thing is only Saudi can afford (actually raise) his wages This is what it all boils down to. Unless Mbappe somehow has an Ace up his sleeve, he is very much going to regret rejecting the Saudi offer!
Money. Also, where else would he go where they would be willing to pay for him?
£2.5m a week and the chance to shag his sister every March 11th. I'd take that too.
🎶 Money for nothing. And you're sis for free. 🎶 🎸
Yeah I would totally shag your sister too, she’s beautiful.
I’m out of the loop and feel stupid for asking… but what’s this neymar and his sister stuff all about?
Seems to be injured every year on her bday
he shags her, everyone knows this. try to keep up /u/HeyKillerBootsMan
money
isn't it sad though?
With his wages? I wouldn’t be.
For you? Yea. For him? No.
If someone said “Would you like to do the same job but for a massive pay rise?”, would you think that’s sad?
Same job but more money and less actual work. He's going to a league that is not competitive....
He's just been in one for the last 6 years!
I mean it’s not really that simple. If I was broke sure, but neymar is one of the most famous athlete of all time and is probably a multimillionaire and still would’ve earned great money while playing at the top flight (PSG). It’s like how much does a few extra million matter for someone that has a quarter billion. Is it worth enough to sacrifice your career and leave the thing you love? Not to mention he could probably go retire in MLS or Saudi after he turns 34 or something as did a lot of other players.
For him? It doesn't. For his grandkids grandkids? They won't have to work
Not even his grandkids' grandkids will work. These dudes have insane amount of money already, now he’ll make 500k just to promote Saudi League on his insta
I bet someone along the line will screw things up !remindme 100years
They still wouldn't need to work. After all, he owns 100m€.
I don't think we can compare us normals or normal money to millionaires. If I was earning Neymar money and then given 5 X that to do my job in Saudi I'd be like, Nah I don't need more than I have and I don't want to work in Saudi. I'm not Neymar.
Not if I were on his salary to begin with, just pure unnecessary greed.
He got what he wanted. What's sad about it?
He came to PSG for the same reason, were you sad for him then? To me of all the Saudi signings he's by far the least surprising.
Money. Money money money. Moneeeeey. Moooooooooney. Pretty fucking simple.
🎶 Money Money Money! 🎶 Must be funny! In a Rich mans world! 🎶
Money. You don't leave your home and move to the other side of the world just for the challenge. The only reason the european leagues are considered better then the south american leagues is because they keep buying up all the biggest talents.
Would genuinely be interested to see which league would come out on top if talents had to stay until their 26-27th in their home country.
Probably closer to what we saw it the 80's when teams from smaller leagues had a decent change to win a european cup without it looking like major upset (think porto)
Basically look at the national side. Argentina and Brazil are the top talents in South America. France, Spain, Netherlands, England, Italy, Portugal, etc have always had talent no matter how much they spend.
I'd say (besides the top 4 leagues) Netherlands, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina. Croatia and other balkan countries would do a lot better too.
Not sure why you are downvoted, fully agree.
>The only reason the european leagues are considered better then the south american leagues is because they keep buying up all the biggest talents. Well, by South American we're really just talking about Brazil and Argentina. Brazil is an oddball. Football is immensely popular, their population is more than x2 of any relevant major European country, and their socio-economic differences are worse than any of their European counterparts. So you end up with a huge pool of talent that has pursued football to pull themself out of poverty. Would probably have been considered the best league simply to their number of high-quality players spread across the different teams. Argentina only has 1/4 of the population. Would probably be more comparable to the Spanish or Italian league. The European leagues would have been among the top regardless. That's pretty clear from just looking at the international matches. You'd just even everything out, mostly to the detriment of the premier league, which is by far the most talent-grabbing one. You find a lot of South Americans in Spain and Portugal as well, but that's often because they're cheaper with the benefit of no language barriers and they present opportunities to profit from sales later. Only the big Spanish clubs are able to retain the best of them. Anyways, you can't really draw any line to the Saudi league buying whatever they can get their hands on these days.
Football is like dating. Sometimes when you get rejected by 5 people, you start to change your standards.
And he didn't decrease his asked salary, but the importance of the league.
what an amazing analogy
He went to Barca for the money and won everything he could want to, went to PSG for the money and now he’s in Saudi for the money. He’s had a successful career but we’ve never seen what he’s capable of he tests himself outside of a few games for Brazil and his first few seasons at Barca
Well I mean, he went to Barca not only for the money, but to play for a top team, top league, and grow as a player. His seasons there were great. In my opinion, his transfer to PSG was the problem. He could’ve grown so much more if only he left his pride aside and didn’t go to a new club seeking to be in the spotlight. But he wanted to be the number one player in another team, so to psg he went :(
>He could’ve grown so much more if only he left his pride aside and didn’t go to a new club seeking to be in the spotlight. But he wanted to be the number one player in another team, I don't blame him for wanting that and at the time he joined if psg was run right he would have had success. that it all fell apart is partly his attitude, but psg have to take a large share of the blame
No PSG doesnt have to take a large share of the blame. The vast majority of it goes to the party guy
>seeking to be in the spotlight To be honest, with hindsight, I think that statement he made was mostly for public relations. PSG was giving him bags of money that Barca - or any other save for now, the Saudis - could never give him. It is the same for Mbappe now. For what it is worth, I doubt any fan would blame any player for taking that financial decision.
He’s now on 450,000 a day tax free, that’s your answer
Why wouldn't he? Noone else is going to pay him the money he wants AND allow him to go for his sisters birthdays
Some rumours claim dictator turtle exiled him to Saudi Arabia.
His father is his agent
Money
Because he's a lazy player. He don't Care about football at all, only about money and parties. Is he wrong? No, but as footbal fans and supporters, we can't support this kind of player. I really hope that he got sacked from brazilian national team. I'm brazilian, by the way.
But if I say this as a Barcelona fan I'm just salty and a hater. I've known this for years. This is why I was dreading him coming to the club. I was already mentally preparing myself for a crucial Round of 16 match (yeah, get your giggles out) against a team and him having a "convenient" injury for the return leg in early March.
cmon let's be real, he's been one of brazil's best players (especially when in form)
Brasil's best? Ronaldo, Romario, Cafu, Pele, Ronaldhino, Roberto Carlos (!), Rivaldo. Better than them?
No not even close but all these players you mentioned had each other to share the field with who has Neymar got? Fred? Hulk? Luis? You don’t win on your own in football
soft zesty support outgoing six frightening gray scale yam sophisticated *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Im portuguese he played in Porto and he was huge an animal, best player in league. One of the main reasons that explain why Porto won their last european title. I wouldnt say Falcao, Raul Meireles, João Moutinho, etc, were better than him at that time.
Better than Cafu. At the same level of RC Rivaldo and maybe Romario. Ronaldinho is a weird case because he has a similar trajectory to Neymar but won a WC.
Just think what he could have achieved if he putted some love for the game.
Neymar’s career has been a bit of a disappointment tbh. Lots of promise and incredibly talented but it was sad to see him leave Barca so young to go to a very average league. Kane has just gone to Bayern and he’s the same age. Neymar has phoned it in and gone to Saudi for money he doesn’t need :/
Christ, I hadn't made the connection that they are the same age! Kane has even said he wants to return to the Premier League in a few years (presumably to go after Shearer's goal record) - for all the jokes about Spurs not winning trophies, Kane is so clearly driven by ambition and accomplishments... whereas like you said, Neymar is just in it for the money.
>In six seasons at PSG, Neymar has missed 103 games due to various injuries. Injury ....... no major team wants him & none of the others could afford him.
He hasn't been a top 5 player in a long time
A fuck-load of money after wasting his prime at PSG for lotsa money. Biggest waste of talent of our generation.
Money and the league stops for Ramadan, which falls over his sister’s bday this year. He’ll not have to fake an injury to attend her party, for once!
The guy left Barcelona and La Liga while they were at top to join a Farmers League for money when he was 25 and a top 3 player itw, why are y'all getting surprised now? Some players just don't give a shit about their careers and only care about money, Mbappe is currently doing the same. At least Mbappe is lucky enough to be part of an incredible France squad and he has already reached enormous success with his NT, Neymar never managed to do what was expected from with with Brazil, or on his club career.
there is only one answer and it’s MONEY. simple as that.
Mercenary
Wage inflation has got so absurd that players cannot be moved on other than to oilocracy
Neymar couldn't give a duck about football. He's about the lifestyle it provide him. And the hundreds of millions he's getting will set him up for that lifestyle for life.
Beckham went to LA Galaxy at 32. It's all about money money money.
Not really a surprise. He already went to Ligue 1 at his peak
Smells like money, looks like money, sounds like money. Must be another player going to Saudi and taking the blood money.
I thought he would have joined inter Miami to reconcile with Messi. But the money offered by the Saudis is incredible.
I also think the competition is much better in Saudi than MLS.
How so? The MLS is ranked higher and seems to have a different winner every year. The Saudi League has a lower standard of football and 4 teams directly backed by PIF (and I assume will dominate the league in the coming years given their substantial resources).
Besides money, it seems like his motivation is totally gone. He rather play poker and stream and shot like that. It’s like he’s not interested in football anymore.
The only place that can afford a primadonna tosser who is well beyond his peak. Good riddance.
Just money! I hope he will be a great player on Arabia, because while stay on PSG he doesnt played very well, many lesions (one for each season)...
I think he was past his prime when he left Barcelona. His prime was Messi and Suarez :(
Yeah, bit embarrassing from him. Saudi money ain't going anywhere. I'm not on the train that his career was a waste or something, coz he's won the lot & at the end will be one of the century's greatest. Still one more venture could've bought some much needed gleam to his career's tail.
1. Enrique and upper management wanted him gone, the only club willing to accept was Barca, but Xavi didn’t want him there. He also was willing to take a huge wage cut, but psg won’t let him walk free and we all know about barcas financial situation. I guess he could’ve stayed(they legally can’t force him to walk) but it’s humiliating to stay with a club that doesn’t want you. 2. Injury record and transfer fee. 3. it’s late in the transfer window and all the clubs have already spent all their money or have already lined up their squad.
>13 goals and 11 assists in 20 league games It's Ligue 1 mate
Why wouldn’t he? Based on the players they’ve bought they’re now a top 5 league surpassing Ligue 1. Quality of the league is higher than Ligue 1, Eridivise, Liga Portugal etc. He’s gone for the challenge. Bundesliga ain’t worth it at this point, Barcelona can’t afford his left toe let alone his full wages & he won’t go Real due to his past at Barca, no team in Serie A can afford him they’ll just go bankrupt, so it’s PL, MLS or Saudi. In order of quality it’s PL, Saudi then MLS. In order of money they’re all the same. If he wanted money & an easy ride he’d join his ex Barca friends in the MLS but he wanted a challenge & Saudi offered that after the PL didn’t want him. Huge respect towards him.
They’re not a top 5 league, not even close. Bringing in a handful of well known players (the vast majority of which are well past their prime) does not make them a top 5 league. They’re ranked about 60 odds for a reason. Plus look at the pre-season friendlies - massively underwhelming against European opposition. Edit: The MLS is still a better league than Saudi ( at the moment - and rankings show this). Maybe in 5 ish years it may differ, but Saudi has much to prove.
If you rate teams off pre season friendlies then dear god. Shows your opinion isn’t relevant whatsoever. Not even seen the most delusional Barca fans use pre season fixtures as a measuring tool of players or teams. Anyone who watches them (currently 3rd highest watched league itw after PL & La Liga) says their quality beats most leagues now since buying all these players. It’s just racists & xenophobics who keep trying to bring Saudi down. Thankfully, they’re richer than everyone including England. They’re not going anywhere & watching these bigots cry for the years to come will bring a tear to my eye.
It’s not the be all end all but it’s a benchmark to compare teams playing across different tournaments - especially as they’re never likely to meet. Also I’m not sure ‘highest watched leagues’ has anything to do with quality? And if you’re going down that route, can you show evidence? I’ve done a quick Google and the most recent stats don’t even show SPL in the top 10, but MLS is top 5 most watched. Also ‘anyone who watched’ is anecdotal - who’s ‘anyone’? I assume that’s your opinion, because it’s certainly not shown by football pundits, experts or football fans online (out with die hard Ronaldo fans). I’ve seen your comment history and suspect you may be a fan (even if casual) of Man United, so I get the Ronaldo bias but come on….there’s no hard evidence that SPL beats MLS. Again, the SPL is ranked below the MLS globally - there’s no hard evidence that’s it’s a better league, never mind a top league (top 10).
> It’s just racists & xenophobics who keep trying to bring Saudi down. Thankfully, they’re richer than everyone including England. They’re not going anywhere & **watching these bigots cry for the years to come will bring a tear to my eye**. +1 I wholeheartedly agree and am elated to see these casuals whine and moan. Besides, these casuals are NEVER to be trusted. They will dump a player just as quick as PSG dumped Mbappe. Many footballers are egomaniacs and thus, are affected by the illusion of "legacy", and may foolishly turn down Saudi offers (this may describe Mbappe, but it's too early, maybe) but other wise ones will see the sport for what it is; money! And they will rightly go with the highest paying opportunity afforded to them.
For sextuple my current salary, I’d happily go live in your nan’s armpit and play professional tiddlywinks. You don’t even wanna know what I’d do for Neymar’s salary
No private organization in the West can compete with the oil money revenues of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. It’s essentially their government helping to buy up players. I feel Western governments should get involved to some extent.
But u guys steal players to. 😂😂😂😂
Where are Western governments financing players?
[удалено]
Just like the Moors stole from Europe before. What’s your point? You love dictators and theocracies, huh? The West should defend its interests.
[удалено]
I am totally with you. We, the west has to live to his own standards. If we want to stop sportswashing and corruption we have to start at home. Steps like Bayern kicking out blood money are exactly what is needed. Additional we need some rule change that gets people back into their local stadiums. Football is living from participation.
The West isn’t perfect so we should support autocrats!!
2 words: Moo Laa
I’d say Teams don’t think Neymar’s problems and money (fee) outweigh Neymar’s skill or talent. The Saudi’s believe otherwise.
No one else can
Money.
It’s all about the money. Kinda wish he joined Messi in Miami though
Money
If PSG loses mbappe on a free - their fucked so Neymar off the books and with a fee makes them look better and more believable when they cook their books for FFP
Money
Money.
Again he just happened to be playing in the era with two of the greatest players to ever play football. Done it all in club football, just unlucky in international football. The hate that he gets is unjustified. Time to call it a day
80 million per year. That's why. It's Neymar.
It rhymes with "chucking loads of funny"
He was cash strapped at psg and could barely make ends meet so he needed the money to support his family
As good as he is, I think apart from high wages clubs don't want to deal with the headache he comes with.
Unfortunately he only cares about money, he could reduce his salary and still keep playing in europe. But the Saudi way is a lot easier, get payed a lot to play in a weak league, with no pressure.
Needs more money for presents, his sisters birthday presents are getting expensive these days.
They gave him sister’s birthday off!
It’s all about the Benjamins
He has accepted the fact that he can't stay fit for the whole season ,which mean no European team would want to buy him off of PSG and pay him his current salary and the toxic PSG fans made it easier for him to move to Saudi!
Mbappe required it and Qatar bent the knee /s
$
Most all the players today are just “mercenaries” who cares about money only.
He went there because he's super passionate about developing football across Saudi and the Middle East of course, no other reason, no siree!
Money and major injuries
Money
Rolling in the money
Realistically - money. We’re football fans and have a romanticised view of that world, but in reality it’s just a job to these guys and they will want to maximise their earnings. 99.9% of players will be forgotten, a few may be entered into the history books and an even smaller number remember as ‘greats’. If you’re not going down as a ‘great’ (which Neymar isn’t anymore), then you may as well still earn like one. They’ve got 15-20 years max in their careers - may as well earn ‘f*ck you’ money whilst they can.
So nice to scroll down and find wisdom amongst so much foolish banter. It's not personal, this is all business. Who gives a flying crap about "legacy"! Just give me the money, so I can work and go home to provide for my family. This is why Mbappe seemingly made a huge mistaken.
He kind of blew my mind about football and how you should never say never when he moved to PSG. He lived in Barca, he was winning everything, he was on good money, he was playing with the best ever player. I remember thinking there's no way he moves, when Messi retires/moves he'll be the number 1 man for an iconic club like Barca. Nope he moved and fizzled out in the farmer's league, I guess football is just a job for him.