In a candid chat with former Barcelona and Brazil star Romario, Neymar opened up on a lot of things from his iconic career in football.
The former Barcelona superstar, who currently plies his trade in Saudi Arabia with Al-Hilal, explained why he chose to sign for Barcelona over Real Madrid and also shed light on how Lionel Messi helped him at a difficult stage early in his career at the club.
Neymar explains PSG transfer decision
Not only that, Neymar has also revealed the motivations behind his transfer to PSG from Barcelona in the summer of 2017 and how Messi himself tried to convince him not to go through with it.
Over the years, there has been a lot said about the Brazilian’s decision to leave Barça for PSG, with many claiming his main motivation was to get out of Messi’s shadows and become the best player in the world.
However, Neymar refutes those claims, saying (h/t Fabrizio Romano): “I didn’t leave Barça to be the best in the world at PSG”.
Explaining Messi’s intervention, he added: “Messi told me: ‘Why are you leaving? Do you want to be the best player in the world? I can make you the best player in the world.’”
“I told him no. It’s not that. It’s something personal. Obviously, financially, it was better than what I had at Barcelona… and there were Brazilians there too,” said Neymar.
“I wanted to play with the Brazilians. There was Thiago Silva, Dani Alves just signed, Marquinhos, Lucas Moura. They were all my friends.”
Neymar left Barcelona in 2017, after four years at the club, signing for PSG in a world-record transfer worth €222 million.
Things did not always go according to plan for the Brazilian icon in the French capital though and despite the Parisians assembling a ‘super team’ at Parc des Princes, they did not reach the heights expected.
Explaining what went wrong for him at PSG, Neymar added: “What went wrong at PSG? Ego. Ego. I think having an ego is good, thinking you’re the best… but, you have to realise to don’t play by yourself.
“Nowadays if not everyone helps, it’s impossible to win something.”
