Transfer Merry Go-Round
The Premier League transfer window closing on Thursday has not slowed down business at all, in fact it has accelerated one of the most interesting transfer sagas across all of Europe. Neymar Da Silva Santos has long been rumoured to be unhappy at Paris St Germain, the team has no contended in Europe as he expected and he is not the star which he believed he would be. The move to Paris St Germain just two years ago was seismic in so many ways, it effectively stole away the heir to Messi’s throne high up in the Nou Camp and gave PSG the A-Grade talent which the team had struggled to attract. They finally a superstar player who could compete with Ronaldo at Real and Messi at Barcelona, the field of play was somewhat evened.
The dreams of Champions League glory which Neymar and the Qatari ownership have long harboured went awry. Neymar suffered a lot of injuries and Kylian Mbappe grew into being the superstar who PSG supporters rallied around. The young, prodigious French talent is beloved by Paris fans and in some ways, usurped Neymar’s spot as the team’s figurehead. For the team, they have suffered in Europe over the last two years. In the 2017/18 season, PSG were throttled by Real Madrid in the Last 16 as Madrid headed to another Champions League title. Last season, PSG were humiliated as they were beaten by a clearly inferior Manchester United team. The perception of Paris within European football has changed massively over the last two years. At the start of Neymar’s tenure, there was legitimate belief that PSG could become a European heavyweight like Barcelona or Juventus. Now, PSG are a laughing stock across and are generally regarded as bottlers.
The chance to fulfil a dream is the same reason why Gareth Bale chose to leave Tottenham six years ago. At the start of the 2013–14, Gareth Bale was a phenomenon, a player who had that magical quality which could take over games and lead Spurs to Champions League success which they had not previously enjoyed. The decision to purchase Bale made a lot of sense, Madrid would have a co-star for Ronaldo and another otherworldly creative forward who could share the burden. It would make their team more deadly in Europe as the team lusted after ‘La Decima’, the fabled tenth European Cup for the team which made European finals their home throughout the 1950s. The teams with Puskas and Di Stefano established Real as a superpower in European football, Bale came to Real to build the same sort of legacy.
At this point in time, the dream seems murky and hollow. Bale did achieve all of the European honours under the sun, his four champions league medals put him in elite company but he realised that the dream was not all it was cracked up to be. He has never been loved at Real Madrid like Ronaldo and in many senses has played in the shadow of arguably the greatest player of a generation. The proximity to Ronaldo invited constant comparison which is incredibly harsh on players, an all-revealing spotlight is cast on Ronaldo which some players are not comfortable with. To this day, Bale’s career at Real is seen as an underachievement due to injuries and a lack of integration into the squad. It means that he is in a difficult spot at the age of thirty. His prohibitive wages means that there is a limited pool of teams who can afford his salary and his age means that there are very few teams interested in a player who has at best two years of his prime left.
Philippe Coutinho left Liverpool to achieve his childhood dream of playing for Barcelona. A lot of young Brazilian footballers who come to Europe desire of playing for Barcelona where so many of their countrymen have achieved success. Rivaldo and Ronaldinho are just two Brazilians who have won trophies at Barcelona and built themselves legacy. To a certain generation, Ronaldinho is one of the most exciting players that we have seen. A Brazilian who achieves success at Barcelona can become a highly regarded player in both Europe and their native nation. Coutinho believed that he could not win trophies at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp and therefore chose to join Messi and his close friend Luis Suarez at Barcelona. There was a belief held that Coutinho’s play-making could replace Iniesta in midfield and ensure that the Barcelona winning machine could continue for years to come. Moreover, Coutinho’s relative youth would give Barcelona a building block as Messi entered his twilight.
The dream turned bitter for Philippe very quickly, he was forced out of central attacking midfield role to accommodate Messi. On the Left Wing, he looked out of his depth as Valverde never settled on a starting line-up. His confidence fell apart when fans would criticise his performances incessantly and he did not have the leading man role which he played so well at Liverpool. At Barcelona, he was quickly ostracised by fans, the overpaid over-rated star who did not perform at a level suitable for a club which demands high standards. It must have hurt watching the team he left go from strength to strength without him. Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool moved on quickly from Coutinho and became a better side, a side that was capable of winning Europe’s greatest honour. Barcelona’s dreams of winning number five for Messi were destroyed at Anfield by Gini Wijnaldum and Divock Origi. Liverpool then went on to win their sixth European Cup.
These three players will likely constitute a wave of superstar player movement across Europe. PSG’s lack of love for Neymar has meant that a transfer to Real Madrid is likely. According to leading football journalists such as Fabrizio Romano and Jose Luis Sanchez, PSG and Real are already deep in talks in regards to a deal which would send Neymar to Madrid. The deal has been desired by Florentino Perez for weeks, ever since it became common knowledge that Neymar was available on the market. It was only made possible when Paul Pogba was made unavailable by Ed Woodward’s unwillingess to deal and the end of the English Transfer Window. Pogba was the centerpiece that Zidane was obsessed with, when that door closed, he assented to a deal for Neymar.
Neymar going to Real Madrid in theory is a logical move. Neymar is a player capable of those magical creative moments which can win games single-handed, that ability coupled with Hazard’s excellence would go some way to replace Ronaldo’s role in the offence. It would give Real Madrid a fearsome front-line, the type of attack which could win a Champions League. If Real can get a deal done for Neymar, it renders Bale surplus to requirements.
Madrid almost had a deal done with a Chinese Club who would take on Bale’s wages with no fee being paid by Jiangsu Suning. The reason why the deal was cancelled was money but there is likely another reason behind the deal, a reason which Real do not want to admit. Although, Madrid purchased a wealth of attacking talent going forward, injuries in pre-season have ravaged their attack. Jokic and Asensio are both injured, Hazard is overweight and Real Madrid have chosen to loan out Dani Ceballos. The depth at forward is pretty low, Madrid have a combination of Hazard, Isco, Vinicius and Benzema who can play in a front three. Zidane was pragmatic enough to realise that although he dislikes Bale, he may need him as cover for any more injuries. Neymar coming to Madrid would mean that Bale is finally able to move to China where he can earn a ridiculous amount of money.
The Real Madrid side of the deal is pretty simple, Real Madrid purchasing Neymar will mean that Bale is free to move. The Paris St Germain side of the deal is much more interesting. PSG have not wavered in their aim of winning the Champions League, it is likely a requirement which will need to be satisfied to keep Mbappe happy for the future. At present, he is more than happy to play for Paris as the club is successful domestically and has the spending power to build a dominant team. That situation could change in a few years if PSG continues to have a barren run in Europe. There should be no illusions, PSG is on the clock in terms of making sure that Kylian Mbappe wants to stay at their club.
The club will likely receive €100m from the sale of Neymar with further add-ons attached to the deal. The total proceeds from the transfer could total €120m providing that Real Madrid satisfies performance clauses like games played, goals scored and trophies won. As a team, PSG lack an outstanding midfield creator. The type of player who can play in an advanced role would be incredibly valuable in terms of creating chances for Mbappe, Di Maria and Cavani. Leonardo, the sporting director at PSG made Coutinho a priority in terms of striking a deal with Barcelona. It has been widely reported by sources such as L’Equipe and Catalan Radio that to make a Neymar to Barcelona deal possible, PSG wanted Coutinho, Semedo and €100m. It would make a lot of sense for Paris and Barcelona to make a deal in regards to the transfer of Philippe Coutinho to the French capital.
Barcelona would be able to finally move on from a player who lacks suitors and a player who has under-achieved for their team. For Barcelona, Philippe Coutinho has been an expensive mistake and recouping their losses for this mistake makes sense especially when it is considered that Barcelona has a bulging wage structure. Under Josep Maria Bartomeu, Barcelona’s wage structure has fallen apart. Big deals for Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele meant that Barcelona are constantly in trouble with FFP regulations as FFP states that a team’s total wage bill cannot exceed a certain level of growth. The purchase of Antoine Griezmann will likely put Barcelona above the cap proposed by FFP, it is one of the reasons why Barcelona have been desperate to off-load Coutinho and Rakitic who are both big-earners. A sale of Coutinho to PSG makes sense for all parties and will likely be pursued once the first domino drops.
There are some indirect consequences of a potential Neymar deal to Real Madrid. The major consequence will be an arms race for all other Champions League contenders who will likely load up on talent in order to negate the talent disparity which Madrid will have. It is entirely possible that Juventus manages to get a deal done for Icardi and then possibly flips Dybala to Bayern Munich as a result of a pressing desire to compete. Juventus have lusted after Icardi for the entire summer and it is probable that they will complete a deal now that Inter Milan have signed Lukaku. Lukaku coming to Inter means that the Nerazzurri has no need for their temperamental number nine and therefore will likely sell Icardi to Juventus to balance the books. Juventus who are also bulging at the seams in regards to salary only has a few suitors left for Paulo Dybala. The two main ones would be Paris and Bayern Munich who have been in the market for an attacking threat who could replace Robben’s creativity from forward positions. Dybala would be an ideal signing for Bayern Munich who desperately need another player who can create magic from attacking midfield.
