“He stays.”
Two simple words from Gerard Pique on his Instagram to seemingly reveal Neymar’s future.
Of course, we haven’t actually heard official confirmation but it seems the Barcelona players have worked their magic and convinced the Brazilian to stay, rather than move to Paris Saint-Germain for €222 million.
Both Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez pleaded with their fellow forward to keep ‘MSN’ together, reminding him that they are the best attacking trident in football and they can still achieve great things.
But it was Pique himself that may have been the biggest reason Neymar decided to stay at the Camp Nou.
According to Spanish outlet Sport, he explained what it means playing for Barcelona and how the fans value the players who remain committed to the club. With Neymar having the possibility to become a club legend if he fills the boots eventually left behind by Messi, he will have a very big role to play in the coming years.
But Messi was one of the main reasons he wanted to leave in the first place. Not because he didn’t like the Argentine, but because he wanted to move out of his shadow in a bid to win the Ballon d’Or.
Neymar has never finished above Messi in the Ballon d’Or voting and probably never will as long as he shares a dressing room with the five-time winner of the award.
But Messi understands Neymar’s concerns.
And something he did during Barcelona’s 2-1 friendly victory over Juventus at the weekend suggests he’s willing to share the spotlight with Neymar.
Neymar scored twice during the pre-season match to prove just why PSG are willing to spend such a ridiculous amount on him.
According to the same report in Sport, Messi relinquished a free-kick in a wonderful opportunity to show that he’s willing to let Neymar take more set-pieces in the future.
Watch: Messi allows Neymar to take his free-kick
Take a look:
It may have been a small moment of generosity - and something Messi does regularly as he shares his penalties and free-kicks around - but it probably meant the world to Neymar.
At the age of 25, it’s time that Neymar takes the next step and attempts to win the biggest individual prize in football.
But it seems he’s willing to learn from the likes of Messi and Suarez for another couple of years before stepping into their boots and becoming Barca’s main man.
The mega-bucks of PSG haven’t done enough to tempt Neymar this time around.