The summer refit at the 12-time – it could even be 13 by then – European kings and FIFA’s Club of the Century will feature purchases exclusively from the top end of the market.
Los Blancos have cash to burn after not making a serious splash since the £63 million (Dh387.2m) purchase of Colombia playmaker James Rodriguez from Monaco all the way back in July 2014. It is safe to say this figure should be far exceeded by Florentino Perez in the feeding frenzy after this summer’s World Cup.
Expect the forward line to witness a sizeable – and eye-wateringly expensive – upgrade. With this in mind, a pair of free-scoring wide men look to be competing for the president’s desires.
A straight choice between Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain’s Neymar, 26, and Egypt and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, 25, is not a simple one. Here, we breakdown the decision Madrid could make.
GOALSCORING GREATNESS
Few players breed more fear in defenders than the aforementioned pair.
No matter the abilities of Cristiano Ronaldo, Isco, Gareth Bale, Marco Asensio and Lucas Vazquez, either would provide significant ballast.
Neymar is the brightest star of football’s greatest nation. Plus, for pure technical ability only ex-Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi betters him and Ronaldo is, at worst, an equal match.
In Ligue 1 alone for PSG, 20 appearances have generated 32 goals or assists.
His credentials in Spain also cannot be questioned after 105 strikes in 186 matches prior to last summer’s record-shattering €222m (Dh1 billion) move.
With 53 goals in 83 international appearances, all-time-great Pele’s mark of 77 strikes should easily be surpassed before he turns 30-years old.
In the opposite corner, Salah’s switch to Anfield is creating a global superstar.
His four-goal haul against Watford on Saturday has put him on 28 goals from 30 Premier League appearances. With seven games left of his debut campaign, he’s on course to decimate the 31-goal record for a 38-match season set by Ronaldo, Alan Shearer and Luis Suarez.
Salah’s quartet also knocked Messi off the top and gave him the lead in the European Golden Shoe standings.
Not bad for a player who spends much of his time loitering on the right flank.
Neymar is the proven quantity, but Salah’s ceiling is expanding all the time. Where he ends up should tantalise Madrid.
4 - Mo Salah today became the first player to score four goals from exactly four shots in a Premier League game since Andrey Arshavin for Arsenal at Liverpool in April 2009. Awesome. pic.twitter.com/Oxhp2k0vBN
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 17, 2018
OFF THE PITCH
When it comes to knowing the value of any signing, Madrid have set the standard since the glamour days in the previous decade of ‘Los Galacticos’.
The policy did not work wonders on the pitch. But Perez knew how to extract value from mega buys like David Beckham, (the original) Ronaldo, Luis Figo and current head coach Zinedine Zidane.
In this regard, there is no competition at present between Neymar and Salah. According to the 2016 Forbes Highest-Paid Athletes list, the former was the only footballer to earn more from off-field endorsements – such as Nike and Gillette – than his playing contract.
In the next year’s edition, Neymar in 18th place was the third-highest ranked footballer behind Ronaldo (1) and Messi (3).
It comes as little surprise to say Salah was nowhere near the top 50. But his profile has grown exponentially since the – now bargain – £36.9m (Dh189m) transfer to Liverpool last June.
Lucrative tie-ups have been inked with Uber and Vodafone. He also has many of the estimated 450m inhabitants of the Arab world following his every move.
Yet, Neymar is a truly global phenomenon. He was ranked by ESPN as the planet’s fourth-most-famous athlete in 2016.
This disparity should only grow after World Cup 2018. Brazil are gunning for glory, while Egypt are simply hoping to exit the groups upon their return after 28 years away.
COUNTING THE COST
When Madrid come to do the maths for either purchase, they will need their calculators to have space for plenty of zeroes.
AS have reported a $400m price tag for Neymar, while The Sunday Times states the player is demanding £1m a week (Dh5.1m) to stay in the French capital.
Meanwhile, El Confidencial said last week that Liverpool are aiming to receive a minimum £140m (Dh717m) fee if Salah is sold. The ex-Basel forward currently earns £90,000 per week (Dh460,910).
With these figures in mind, Salah is by far the cheaper – if that phrase can be used for such amounts – potential buy.
If you pay the price asked for and more than treble his wages to £300,000 per week (Dh1.5m) on a five-year deal, the total operation should cost approximately £220m (Dh1.1bn).
When Neymar’s price tag and new wage demands are added together for the same duration, this figure more than doubles to roughly £545m (Dh2.8bn).
Resident talisman Ronaldo – the Portuguese version – would also bridle at such money being paid to a fresh arrival. A substantial rise way beyond his current remuneration of an estimated £700,000 per week (Dh3.6m) would surely be requested – and have to be accepted.
Even Madrid’s healthy bottom line would buckle under the weight. Yet, Neymar has an invaluable flamboyance and supreme preternatural ability to make these numbers appear acceptable.
Everywhere he’s gone, incredible performances have followed. Who could forget his decisive role when Barca pulled off one of football’s great comebacks against PSG in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League?
He also carried the hopes of a nation on home soil when he converted the clinching penalty to see Brazil win the 2016 Olympics.
Salah has scaled some of these heights. His injury-time spot-kick against Congo ensured a spot at Russia.
But memories of his peripheral role at Chelsea remain. No such stains exist on Neymar’s CV.
1 - Neymar was the only player from the top five leagues with +20 goals (20) and assists (21) last season in all competitions. Fantastic. pic.twitter.com/9PndcsLv4x
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) August 2, 2017
VERDICT
Neymar has experienced uninterrupted success since debuting for Santos aged 17, is a prominent name in every market and his pedigree in Spanish football is there for everyone to see.
In contrast, Salah is a coming force – with his overall price tag reflecting this status. Sharp progress at Fiorentina and Roma, after his disappointing Chelsea spell, has hit warp speed since arriving at Anfield.
He could keep on developing at a precipitous rate and justify this new standing as Messi’s heir apparent. Or, this could be a peak.
Kevin Phillips scored 30 Premier League goals for Sunderland in 1999/2000. The striker then failed to see action for England in Euro 2000 and never scored more than 18 times in a single top-flight campaign.
A repeat of this scenario, admittedly, does not appear likely. But Madrid can afford to be this selective.
If money’s no object for them, they should bank on the Brazilian.
