On Romario TV, Neymar says that the financial aspect and the possibility of becoming the best player in the world, far from Messi, are not the reasons which pushed him to leave Barça for PSG in 2017.
Neymar assures him: he signed for Paris Saint-Germain because there were his “friends”. In an interview with legendary striker Romario, the current Al-Hilal striker claims that his departure from FC Barcelona in 2017 was not a desire for him to free himself from Lionel Messi to have a better chance of winning the Golden Ball.
“There were no more Brazilians in Barcelona”
“I didn't leave Barça with the idea of being the best in the world. In the last week at Barcelona, Messi came to me and said: 'Why are you leaving? Do you want to be the best in the world? I'm going to make you the best in the world.” But to be honest, that's not what I had in mind when I left. There were other things, it's more personal. , Neymar first explained, in this interview broadcast Thursday January 16.
“Financially, PSG was much better than what I had at Barcelona,” he later admitted. Before adding: “But there was also the question of the Brazilians. I wanted to play with Thiago Silva, Dani (Alves), Marquinhos and Lucas (Moura). They were all my friends and there were no more Brazilians to play with. Barcelona I tried my luck, but it wasn't with the idea of being the best in the world.”
-Neymar left FC Barcelona to join Paris Saint-Germain as part of a transfer worth 222 million euros, the amount of the release clause in his contract with the Catalan club.
During his first season with the capital club, Neymar played 30 matches in all competitions with a record of 28 goals and 16 assists.
