From Messi's shadow to Qatar's influence: Top five talking points from Neymar's transfer to PSG

On Thursday, Neymar Jr finally completed his record-breaking transfer from Barcelona to Paris St Germain, after the forward’s lawyers coughed up 222 million euros. Barcelona had inserted that clause in the Brazilian’s contract believing it would detract all comers, but oil-rich PSG had other ideas.

His transfer is inarguably the biggest one in world football, whose impact will go beyond the sport and also make ripples in the geo-political battle between Qatar and the Saudi-led bloc.

PSG’s Qatari President Nasser Al-Khelaifi hailed the move, stating: "Today, with the arrival of Neymar Jr, I am convinced that we will come even closer, with the support of our faithful fans, to realising our greatest dreams.”

So as Neymar gets set to kickstart a new era in world club football, we look at some of the major talking points of his path-breaking transfer:

The Mind-Boggling Numbers

Firstly, let’s examine the crazy numbers involved. With the advent of television money and the craze for the game across the globe, footballers are among the highest-paid athletes. But Neymar's salary is still mind-boggling. 

Along with the 222 million euros that Barcelona got, PSG will reportedly pay Neymar 600,000 euros per week, which means that he will now earn more than both  Messi and Ronaldo.  In fact, simply from a salary perspective, Lavezzi and Oscar, who ply their trade in the cash-rich Chinese Super League, also earn more than Messi-Ronaldo.

However, none of them are world’s highest-paid footballer and that honour lies with former Manchester City, Manchester United and Juventus player Carlos Tevez who reportedly brings home 680,128 euros per week at Shanghai Shenhua in the Chinese Super League. 

The Messiah Problem

Neymar and Messi - (Messi's Instagram account)

MSN – as the hallowed trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar came to be known – have been football’s deadliest forward line, and yet it was Messi’s presence that pushed Neymar to leave.

In his farewell message, Neymar said that he needed a ‘new challenge’ and even though the Neymar-Messi bonhomie was alive on Instagram, there’s no denying that the Brazilian got sick of living under his teammate's shadow.

Legend has it that the night Neymar decided to depart, was when Barcelona achieved the greatest comeback against his new club PSG. Down 4-0 in the first leg, Neymar Jr put in his finest performance in a Barcelona shirt, scoring two late goals and then assisting Sergi Roberto’s injury-time winner to help Barcelona to a 6-1 win. And yet the picture that went viral, celebrated Messi. 

This night was ...
 #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/cpIXJwwVRr — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 8, 2017

That according to Spanish journalist Ramon Besa was the moment Neymar decided to pack his bags and head away, knowing that there was no way for him to ever get the limelight as long as Lionel Messi was at Barcelona.

At 25, the Brazilian feels that the time for him has come to have his own act, to win Ballon D’ors and that wouldn’t be feasible with the Catalan giants. 

Barcelona lose a star at his peak

Galacticos Michael Owen, Luis Figo, Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane (AFP)

For most footballers, playing for Barcelona or Real Madrid is the ultimate dream, so it’s rare that a top star leaves either club in his prime. For the Catalans, this has happened twice. Once in 1997, Inter Milan came up with $27 million for the original Ronaldo, when he was 21, and inarguably the best player in the world.

The greatest footballer in the world at that time was set to sign a new contract when talks collapsed and Inter Milan came up with the amount needed to buyout his contract and break the world-record transfer fee.

The second time was far more acrimonious, when Luis Figo left Barcelona to join Real Madrid and kickstart the Galactico era, which involved some of the ugliest El Clasicos.   

However, Neymar’s transfer will hurt even more, considering the legal and moral compromises the Catalans made to sign him from Santos.

Neymar Sr, Barcelona and rather a shady transfer

Neymar arrives with his father Neymar Santos (right) to the national court in Madrid (PTI)

When former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell signed Neymar for Barcelona, seeing off interest from Real Madrid and Chelsea, it was seen as the greatest transfer coup of the century.

However, the tricks Barcelona turned to get Neymar would leave an indelible stain on the club’s holier-than-thou image.

Rosell’s desire to make Neymar his crown jewel was such that he paid an initial €10m and a further €30 to N&N Consultoria Esportiva e Emprsarail, a company owned by Neymar’s parents.

Barcelona’s new president would go on to admit that the real cost of the transfer was €86.2m, while Rossel would have to step down when knowledge of his impropriety became public. And at the end of the day, all Barcelona got was four years, before Neymar Jr moved, while Barcelona were left to deal with a  'misappropriation of funds' case and a non-erasable stain. 

Qatar’s growing influence in football

PSG's president Nasser Al-Khelaifi with President of France Emmanuel Macron (AFP)

The transfer comes as Qatar faces its worst political crisis in decades, with Saudi Arabia leading a four-state bloc that suspended all ties with Doha last month over accusations that the emirate had close ties to Islamist extremist groups and Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran.

Mathieu Guidere, an expert in the geopolitics of the Arab world, told AFP: “The announcement of Neymar's transfer to PSG was piloted among the high ranks in Qatar as a sort of communications strategy that would overshadow the debate around all other considerations, namely terrorism. For days now, nobody has mentioned the negative -- it's all about the Neymar transfer."

Qatar’s foray into world football is an attempt to exert its influence through ‘soft power’ of which the Neymar transfer will be their biggest move.

The Gulf state is hosting the 2022 World Cup, a rather bizarre choice by FIFA, given that the state has no history of footballing expertise and its summer temperature is hardly conducive to play The Beautiful Game.

However, FIFA handed them the 2022 WC and even made the startling decision of shifting dates to November-December, which would disrupt the European club football calendar.

The decision to hand Qatar the WC continues to rankle, and even now several leading figures are under investigation, including former French President Sarkozy. But none of that has stopped Qatar’s bid to influence proceedings.

From sponsoring the Aspire Academy in 2004, buying PSG for 40 million euros, to being Barcelona’s main sponsor till June, oil-rich Qatar has come a long way in its attempt to make waves in world football. 

In fact, the Saudi-led boycott affected the sport, when UAE blocked beIN’s signal along with Al-Jazeera’s, before it was unblocked.

Even as the blockade continued, football stars including Barcelona’s Pique and Jordi Alba, continued to visit Qatar, as a sign that it was business as usual. 

Neymar’s transfer however, will be the biggest move Qatar has made so far, a clear indication that their desire to influence proceedings in world football won’t come to a halt any time soon.