“He is the cheapest player in the club’s history” – Brazilian agent explains opinion on Neymar involving Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe at PSG
Brazilian agent Andre Cury has said that players like Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe joined Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) because of Neymar's influence. The Brazilian joined the Parisians in the summer of 2017 from Barcelona for a world record €222 million.
While his move is the costliest transfer in football history, Cury reckons it has been worth if for PSG, as Neymar has given exponential return to the Ligue 1 giants in terms of future player recruits and marketing. Cury elaborated:
"Everything (Neymar) has given PSG is priceless. He is the cheapest player in the club's history because just what he gave to Paris in marketing is incredible.
"If you go to any part of the world, surely there is a boy with a PSG shirt, and they didn't even know what that club was before. In the end Messi, Mbappe, Di Maria and the likes arrived."
Cury added:
"Taking out Neymar and Mbappe, we will hardly find operations of a hundred million or more that go well. Most of those operations when you pay so much money have not gone well.
"At Barcelona, none: (Ousmane) Dembele, (Antoine) Griezmann, (Philippe) Coutinho. In Madrid: (Eden) Hazard, (Gareth) Bale more or less. At Atletico Madrid, they paid €126 million for Joao Felix and €80m or €90m for Thomas Lemar. At Chelsea, they have paid a lot of money and nothing."
Kylian Mbappe followed Neymar to PSG in the same transfer window (2017), while Lionel Messi joined the Parisians as a free agent four years later. The superstar attacking trio played two seasons together for the Ligue 1 giants.
Neymar explains why PSG struggled despite having Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe with him
While Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe played two seasons together, PSG's performances left a lot to be desired. They won two Ligue 1 titles together.
Despite domestic success, the club struggled in the UEFA Champions League, getting eliminated in the Round of 16 on each occasion. Analysing the reason for the same, the Brazilian told Que Papinho:
“Football stuff. Galacticos didn’t win the Champions League, so it’s part of it. We had a very strong team. Me, Messi and Mbappe are three guys who are the best in the world."
He added:
“We know that, but unfortunately, it didn’t fit. It wasn’t good for us. Obviously, we wanted to win everything, (and) we were close in the locker room, but sometimes football is not right (or) fair. It’s not like a cake recipe."
Lionel Messi has completed a move to MLS club Inter Miami as a free agent this summer, while Kylian Mbappe is also on the cusp of leaving PSG. Neymar remains the only superstar attacker in the team going into the new season.