There were a number of motives behind Neymar’s decision to swap Barcelona for Paris but all can essentially be packaged under one feeling: ego.
The desire to be the main man, being financially rewarded beyond his wildest imagination and building a lasting legacy all falls under that same sense of self-importance.
It’s a psychological asset that drives the very best athletes and many will argue is a necessity to separating the genuine great from the good, but it also, by nature, carries a significant risk/reward ratio.
At the Camp Nou, for a time, Neymar was happy to be subservient to Lionel Messi. The Argentine was and is the best footballer on the planet – perhaps the greatest ever – and for a young man in his early 20s learning a new way of life in Europe, he was the benchmark.
Messi and Neymar during pre-season for Barcelona
But as Neymar matured and grew comfortable in his own skin in Catalonia, Messi’s aura clearly waned and over time, added to external factors such as the chronic mismanagement of the Barcelona board, that fuelled his desire to look outside Barcelona for a place he could call his own.
The Brazilian has exuded a humbleness and man-of-the-people persona, at odds with his flamboyant style on and off the field, but at the same time has – unlike Messi, for example – always looked comfortable with his superstar status, bestowed on him since his mid to late teens.
Cristiano Ronaldo may be football’s No1 showman but it’s a role he’s only really grabbed (or thrust) with both hands towards the latter stages of his career.
A world-record fee, being feted by a billionaire in one of the world’s most iconic cities and being installed as the alpha dog in a dressing room of multi-million assets; if that isn’t enough to send Neymar’s growing self-belief through the stratosphere, then nothing will.
Edinson Cavani may have played down this dressing room row which, depending on who you believe, could end up with anything from a carefully stage-managed handshake on the training ground in the next few days to the Uruguayan being sold in January.
Neymar and Cavani should do this next time. No more fights. pic.twitter.com/xh2BpTncA0
— Kingsley Oyero 1 (@koyero) September 19, 2017
But while the noise caused from the simple act of Cavani pulling rank on penalties ahead of Neymar should serve as a warning both to PSG and the player himself, it will almost certainly be ignored.
When you decorate your squad with so many individual talents, you immediately weaken any kind of core collectiveness. Messi and Ronaldo are able to do it at Barcelona and Madrid because they have been so good for so long.
Respect among peers isn’t given, it’s earned, and for all the fluff around Neymar’s switch to the French capital, at a fundamental level PSG are a sports team of many different personalities and he cannot swan in, expecting to take roles of such responsibility (especially with large goal bonuses on the line, of course).
PSG possess individual stars with Kylian Mbappe, Cavani and Neymar
Four years ago, Cavani arrived in Paris with the same sense of grandeur as Neymar and a willingness to be ‘the man’ – that doesn’t just disappear; if anything the Brazilian’s arrival only enhances the sense of individual competition within the squad.
Chances are, though, given the significant investment PSG have committed to this summer, there will only be one winner. With Paris being the fashion capital of the world, Cavani is so 2013.
Coach Unai Emery has already stepped aside telling the players to sort it out among themselves but how healthy that will be to the long-term harmony of the dressing room remains to be seen.
