Neymar needs to chart own course to happiness

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This article was published 12/05/2018 (2680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Neymar is unhappy.

It sounds almost silly to say, given that he made a world-record US$265.5-million move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain last summer and earns approximately US$813,000 per week — a salary that ranks him among the best-paid athletes in sports, never mind soccer.

But money, the cliché goes, isn’t everything. Not even this kind of money.

More important than anything, Milan Kundera writes in The Festival of Insignificance, is a good mood. Think about that. No amount of riches, no level of fame, no ability to make magic on the pitch is worth very much without it. A good mood, at the end of the day, ultimately satisfies. It’s peak end game. And Neymar hasn’t enjoyed a good mood since he arrived in France.

The problem, it goes without saying, is not France or the French capital in which he lives and works. It’s that he never wanted to be there in the first place.

Yes, he sanctioned the transfer from Barcelona (and Barcelona and La Liga were taken aback enough to initially refuse to cash the cheque; apart from taking understandable offence, one could sense in their reaction they knew something wasn’t quite right), and yes, he signed that contract at PSG. But what’s becoming clearer by the day is that those decisions were not independently his. And now, as rumours swirl about a summer switch to Real Madrid, the soccer world can’t help but be captivated by Neymar’s drama of regret.

It was the player’s father, Neymar Sr., who orchestrated the PSG transaction — the same Neymar Sr. who has never been far removed from fraud and corruption allegations, and who by now is surely on a first-name basis with the staffers of Barcelona’s courtrooms.

Ever since he left Santos, the Brazil international has been both a son and an asset in the business of “Família Neymar,” and not often in that order. And to make money for the family business, he has had to do things like leave a good situation at Camp Nou for the profit of Parc des Princes.

Perhaps, predictably, he behaved like, and was treated like, a spoiled rich kid almost as soon as he arrived in Paris. There was that quite-public spat with PSG striker Edinson Cavani early in the season, and led by Adrien Rabiot, the club’s contingent of French players supposedly griped about Neymar’s wages and profile in a WhatsApp group. Then there was PSG’s decorating of the Champs-Élysées for the superstar’s birthday — a demonstration so extra that even Neymar Sr. must have blushed.

According to Spanish daily Marca, it is player-agent Pini Zahavi who is now handling Neymar’s interests, although Neymar Sr. recently flew from Brazil to Paris to meet with the Israeli. Presumably, they discussed Real Madrid and a strategy for convincing PSG owner Qatar Sports Investments and its chairman Nasser Ghanim Al-Khelaifi to sign off on the deal.

But would the 26-year-old be happier in Madrid? Would a new city, a new club and new teammates somehow remedy his discontent?

Real Madrid, not surprisingly, thinks so. Last month it sent new signing Vinícius Júnior, currently with Rio de Janeiro’s Flamengo, to visit Neymar, who was recovering from metatarsal surgery, in Brazil. And when asked in his Friday press conference whether Neymar could coexist with Cristiano Ronaldo, Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane remarked that “good players are always compatible.”

Madrid, for its part, seems open to signing the forward, especially given the pressure it faces to upgrade the squad in the coming months.

But it won’t work unless it is Neymar, himself, driving the process. He has to want to go there. His PSG tenure, if it’s indeed finished, is a lesson — for him and his family.

Neymar has to take control of his future. Not his father. Not Pini Zahavi. Him. Only then, when he’s making decisions for himself and can own the consequences, will he realize the satisfying good mood he so obviously, and understandably, craves.

Spot-kicks

● Believe it or not, it wasn’t Neymar leading the news in the Brazilian press on Friday, but rather Dani Alves. The right-back, who also plays for Paris Saint-Germain, has suffered a knee injury that will likely keep him out of the upcoming World Cup.

Despite his age at 35, he was expected to play a starting role in Russia, and in his absence Brazil will likely have to go with Corinthians’ Fagner in his position — a considerable downgrade.

● The Premier League concludes Sunday, and with relegation sorted it’s the division’s final Champions League berth that everyone will be watching. Liverpool presently holds it, and will secure it with a single point at home to Brighton. But a loss, and a Chelsea victory at Newcastle, would catapult the Blues into fourth. The Reds would then go into the Champions League final against Real Madrid requiring a win to simply qualify for next year’s tournament. But they’ll be hoping it doesn’t come to that.

● This proud writer’s pal Carter is playing kids’ soccer for the first time this spring. Have fun, buddy!

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