After six seasons of more noise than football, of more injuries than titles, PSG announced on Tuesday the transfer of Neymar to Al-Hilal for the next two seasons plus another option. The Brazilian arrived at the French club with the idea of being the best player in the world, with the most expensive transfer poster in history, the 222 million payment to Barça in 2017 still valid, but he is leaving Paris through the door of ago, attracted like so many others by the indecent figures of money from Saudi Arabia.
“It is difficult to say goodbye to a club legend. I will never forget the day he arrived at PSG, nor what he contributed to the club and to the project", communicated the president of the Parisian entity, Nasser Al Jelaifi, the main supporter of the striker's arrival in the French capital, the one chosen to guide the team to his first Champions League, a challenge that he was only close to achieving in the lost final of 2020. In the other attempts at the European assault, the striker always missed due to injury in a tie, especially the four times he fell in the round of 16.
On an economic level, PSG lowers its salary mass by more than 40 million, which the Brazilian will receive annually, and receives 90 million for the transfer. A round operation considering that the striker, with a contract until 2027, had been on the starting ramp for a long time.
Neymar, who is already in Saudi Arabia, where he has posed with the club's president, Fahd bin Saad Al-Nafel, leaves Paris adding to his record with five league titles, three Cups, two League Cups and four Super Cups, in addition to score 118 goals and give 77 assists in 173 games. Some remarkable numbers that, however, do not hide the enormous disappointment that he has left among the fans, more news because of his off-season problems than because of his achievements on the field. In case there was any doubt at Barça, where there were supporters of his return, his departure to the Arabian peninsula confirms that his head is no longer for elite competition.
Neymar, 31, still has seasons ahead of him in football, but his new stage in Saudi lands is an early retirement, the renunciation of any sporting glory. His undoubted quality as a player, lately exhibited in a dropper, has abdicated in favor of a life of partying and pleasure, which until now has been weighing down his career in the shadows. Now, he will be able to enjoy his inseparable toiss without the powerful media focus of European football, under the scorching desert sun.
"The wonderful talent... that attracts everyone's attention," the signing of Al-Hilal, the most successful Saudi club, announced on the networks. A few defining words from the Brazilian, his quality on the pitch is much less profitable than off the field, where he has monetized his career perfectly. It has always been a factory of generating publicity and expectation. The Arab club, with practically unlimited money, will give a small part of its immense fortune to the striker. There is talk of 100 million a year, perhaps the first time in his career that his salary will be higher than what he earns from exploiting his image. Already turned to the economic business, his sports performance definitely goes to the background. The question is if one day football was his priority.
