Replacing Neymar
Vote: Who can Barcelona buy to replace their €222 man?
It’s tough to replace the production of a player of Neymar’s caliber, but hey, let’s try. Barcelona have €222 to spend, and there are a plethora of ways to blow the cash, lets figure out the best way to spend it.
- Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool
This is the move to replace Neymar from an ability standpoint. However, Liverpool are holding onto Philippe Coutinho with all their might. They’ve reportedly already turned down two offers from Barcelona for their own Brazilian magician. That doesn’t mean that if the right offer comes, they won’t sell. It just means the last time they were this good as a team, they also sold a player to Barcelona, and ruined their shot at the Premier League.
So, they may be a bit weary of dealing with Barca.
- Kylian Mbappe, AS Monaco
The wonder kid has apparently already asked for his way out of Monaco, but who knows what you read on the internet these days. There seem to be a couple competing mindsets on Mbappe. One is that the reports are true, and that he did agree to a Real Madrid deal a few weeks ago and now Real just have to offload Gareth Bale. The other is that it’s all bologna and Mbappe is still up for grabs. I more so align in the second camp, and think Mbappe is up to the highest bidder. Which likely could be Barcelona. It’s just tough to replace a proven commodity like Neymar, with someone who is 18, for almost the same cost.
- Eden Hazard, Chelsea
As a Chelsea fan I scoff at this, bring your best offer Barca.
I’m kidding. Keep your money, because even if you gave all of that money to Roman, most of it would go to a meaningless 5th center back, Danny Drinkwater, and a bit to Vladimir Putin for old times’ sake.
- Antoine Griezmann, Atlético Madrid
A €200m buyout clause will likely keep Griezmann at Atlético. But hey, anything is possible with transfers. He would be a great fit at Barca in my book. A proven goalscorer who is flexible at whatever position he plays. I still like him as a player coming up the center, not from the wing. So this wouldn’t be my pick.
- Ousmane Dembele, Borussia Dortmund
Dembele would be a wonderful move for Barcelona. A talented player with plenty of speed and grit. Much like Mbappe, the issue is his youth. Barcelona are ready to compete this year, Dembele still likely has a bit of growing to do.
- Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal
Wenger has said Sanchez isn’t moving, if Barcelona wanted Sanchez back, I believe they would have him back at whatever fee Wenger asked. It doesn’t seem realistic, but Sanchez’s play would seemingly work perfectly on the left side complimenting Messi and Suarez in similar ways that Neymar did.
- Paulo Dybala, Juventus
Despite being similar to Messi in his ability to roam in the center, and preferring to play on the right, his present talent combined with his future prospects make him the perfect candidate to sit on the Barcelona throne as Messi grows older. That may be his biggest problem as a Neymar replacement. He is indeed a better Messi replacement then a Neymar fit, so he doesn’t belong on the list as a “Neymar replacment”. The list Dybala belongs on is “a great transfer no matter who he comes in to replace”.
