Is Neymar's Career A Failure?

There's no denying the brilliance of Neymar Jr, Brazil's No. 10, PSG's club-record signing, perhaps one of the most technically-gifted footballers to ever play the game. And at age 31, he has already called time on his European career. PSG accepted a near-100 million euro bid from Saudi club Al-Hilal. The Brazilian forward departs Europe with a Champions League title, plenty of Spanish and French league titles, and a highlight reel that the streets will remember.

Except that's not what people will remember Neymar for. What they will remember (at least discourse on social media suggests) is the unmet expectations and the egotistical decisions that derailed his career. 

We don't need to go over all of Neymar's pre-PSG career history. The condensed version is he hit the map of top European clubs in the late 2000s and early 2010. By 2011, he was already playing for Santos, the same club the legend Pele played at. Neymar was applauded for his talent, and by 2013, Barcelona came calling. He settled in perfectly with the team, honing his craft from Lionel Messi as they and Luis Suarez formed one of the deadliest attacking trios in Europe. This was Barca's last great hurrah, winning a treble and Messi taking home a Ballon d'Or in 2015. Neymar was in consideration for the award as well. From 2015 onward, it looked like Barcelona would've just kept going for more Champions League titles. 

But Neymar was not without his flaws, certainly when it came to sharing the limelight. He joined Barcelona as a young man, but as he got older, his attitude changed. He wanted his own team. He didn't want to be known as part of Messi's team - because in reality, by that point, Barca was Messi's team. So in 2017, he chose not to extend his contract, forcing them to sell the star winger. PSG, with the state of Qatar backing them, broke the release clause and the transfer record. 222 million euros for Neymar. His own team. The No. 10 kit. A similarly talented squad. It was perfect for him. 

PSG was not Barcelona. French football was nothing close to Spanish football, stylistically or competitively. But Neymar wasn't brought in to win the Ligue 1 title; PSG had already done that plenty of times without him. The Qataris eyed a bigger prize: the Champions League. If Neymar could be the hero and win PSG's first UCL trophy, his legacy would be cemented. He'd be a legend. 

When Neymar played well, he played really well. He showed why he justified the price tag. The Qataris even surrounded him with ultra-talented players like Kylian Mbappe (more on him later), Edinson Cavani, and Angel di Maria. But Neymar battled his own issues: injuries piled up, and he was much more lax than PSG thought. He often flew to Brazil for his sister's birthday many times. Videos surfaced of him going to his ex's wedding because of a philosophical mission he gave himself before they broke up. His absence gave way to the rise of other players in the team, particularly Mbappe. 

And it wasn't just these off-pitch antics that got Neymar caught up in the moment of his record-breaking transfer. Social media and football pundits constantly criticized him for making the move. They believed he only followed the money, he didn't really care about winning or his personal legacy. His injuries always seemed to happen before massive matches, especially in the Champions League. While he was at PSG, they went through 4 different managers, and almost all of them complained that the dressing room was too influenced by the actions of star players. Of course, more star players joined when Neymar was there, but it's easy to infer who they meant. This only led to more criticism by rival fans and even neutrals. He left the challenge of Barca for easier competition in France and a heftier payday. 

Neymar also tried to force his way out of PSG on multiple occasions. He complained about PSG's structure, the constant media scrutiny, he didn't like Paris the same way he liked Barca or Rio, and he felt he was being undervalued. Interesting to say that when you're getting paid over half a million euros a week. 

Of course, Brazilian fans tried to defend their star man. He always turned up for the national team. But even they had certain expectations for Neymar. Wearing the 10 shirt for Brazil is no small honor. If you wear that shirt, you better be ready to bring home a World Cup. It wasn't for a lack of trying, but that never happened. Neymar's Brazil career is best defined as mixed. He was carrying them to the 2014 knockout rounds in Brazil before he was injured in the semifinals, which became Brazil's worst defeat in history. He couldn't get Brazil out of the quarterfinals in 2018 and 2022. Argentina pipped Brazil to Copa America in 2021, not to mention Chile also won it twice in 2015 and 2016. Brazil fans felt Neymar was never going to be a true leader like Ronaldinho or Pele, two men who were in his shoes at one point. At what point do you stop defending your own national players?

Perhaps what could've and should've been the redemption arc climax was the 2020 Champions League final. This was the chance to silence the doubters. The chance to prove leaving Barca was the right decision. This would lock him in as a Ballon d'Or favorite. Neymar had become a focal point for PSG by this point, alongside Mbappe - who was quietly but not shockingly surpassing Neymar in popularity and talent. The COVID pandemic forced the final behind closed doors against a Bayern Munich team on the verge of a treble. 

What could've and should've been. Bayern took home the crown that night. And Neymar sat despondently on the bench as he took home a runner-up medal. That was the chance. Nobody knew it was the last chance. 

In 2021, PSG went all in on trying to win the Champions League. Lionel Messi was a free agent, but only so many clubs could afford him. PSG had ample cash and they brought him in a foray of top players. And now, after all he said about wanting his own team and being out of Messi's shadow, the two were reunited. But by this point, Mbappe was the star man, Messi was the additional superstar, and Neymar was a tertiary character. The move totally backfired in this regard. 

More injuries followed. PSG became increasingly reliant on Mbappe, which shifted the dialogue about team structure. Neymar became less important for PSG. Mauricio Pochettino and Christophe Galtier both struggled to play all three-star forwards. PSG exited the Champions League in the Round of 16 in 2022 and 2023 and were far from convincing in the group stage. They racked up a few more league titles but also watched Galtier guide a much less-talented Lille side to the 2020-21 title. Social media certainly placed pressure on PSG's execs for splashing so much cash for such terrible results. Which put more onus on Neymar's failure to deliver the UCL to Paris. Messi was equally criticized (he didn't see PSG as anything more than his prep for the 2022 World Cup), and Mbappe got tired of the underwhelming performances. Now Messi is gone to America, Neymar is going to Saudi Arabia, and Mbappe is running down his deal with PSG in the hope of moving to Real Madrid in 2024. 

The Neymar transfer failed everyone.

Let's start with the player. He didn't ever win a Ballon d'Or, even in his post-Barca career. That was despite posting personal bests in 2017-18 and 2022-23. He tried to leave PSG twice. He racked up injuries but always seemed to be traveling at the worst times. He failed to get Brazil past the World Cup semifinals, the best finish Brazil has had since the 2002 World Cup. He also focused heavily on his personal brand, becoming a streamer part-time, launching NFTs, being a crypto advocate, and like any good pro footballer, having a challenging romantic life. 

Now let's do the clubs: Barca got in 222 million euros they essentially flushed down the drain. The cash was spent on Neymar's replacements...yes, replacements. Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho, and Antoine Griezmann all cost over 100 million euros each, all bought within successive seasons of each other and none could replicate Neymar. It threw Barcelona into massive financial distress, which they haven't come close to recovering from. PSG may have succeeded in becoming the dominant force in French football, but they failed to maximize the talent they had. The money they spent on star players caused them to neglect the glue of teams, the not-so-star players. They also hired coaches who had systems that required serious buy-in from players, but not everyone did that. It culminated in a trip to the final and semifinals but PSG didn't get the trophy they so desired. Neymar failed the political ambitions of Qatar. (some might actually thank him for that)

But is Neymar's career a failure? If it is, it's not exactly the worst one to have. Ten league titles across Spain and France, 43 Champions League goals, 118 Ligue 1 goals, 108 La Liga goals, scored in the 2015 UCL final, a UCL trophy winner, a Puskas winner, three World Cup participations, and three Copa America participations. A regular in the Brazilian national team. From the outside, that's a pretty good career.

But departing Europe at age 31 when it's clear he still has something to offer speaks to a sad reality. The PSG move hurt his career more than helped. The on-pitch results are good under a narrow lens, but he was brought in to be a world-beater. In a broader sense, he didn't meet PSG's expectations of him. Neymar's diva side was exposed, and the media analyzed his performance based on his transfer saga and his words, even well past when it was truly relevant. Confidence in Neymar eroded and probably eroded within himself. 

To say Neymar's European career is a failure is much too black and white. Did he follow the money? More or less. Did he ever really step out of Messi's shadow? No. But did he still ball when it mattered? Sometimes. It's a complicated story. It's up to you to decide.