Neymar Staying Put at PSG, for Now

Neymar’s will play at PSG next season, but what about after that?

“I’m staying. I’m staying in Paris,” said the 26-year-old forward. “I have a contract. Most of the speculation is made by the media. Everyone knows my objective, why I went to Paris. I want to have success with that club and I hope next season could be wonderful.”

“In the face of the constant reports linking PSG’s Neymar Jr. to our club, Real Madrid C.F., wish to clarify that the club has no intention of making any offer for the player. The two clubs enjoy an excellent relationship and, as such, if Real Madrid were at any stage to consider securing the services of a PSG player, they would approach the club in the first instance.”

Neymar proposed move to Real Madrid has been talked about since the end of the club season, but the chatter and speculation has increased more in recent weeks after Cristiano Ronaldo transferred to Juventus. The Spanish side have been left without a superstar up front, and it was viewed he may have left Los Blancos as his dominance at the club could have been usurped by the Brazilian, should he have made the switch to Bernabeu. But now that the Portugal captain is gone, the chances for Real Madrid of securing Neymar’s signature have shot up through the roof – that was until he now announced that he’s staying put at Parc des Princes.

Neymar’s brand can help elevate Qatar’s image ahead of the 2022 World Cup

Neymar joined the online Ligue 1 side last summer in a blockbuster move from Barcelona which cost Les Parisiens a world record fee of €200m to acquire his services. The first season at the French capital seems to have been a hit for Neymar as he found the back of the net a solid 28 times in 30 outings; he most likely would have scored another 5-10 goals were it not for his injury that put him out of action for 2 months.

But most importantly, PSG managed to wrestle back the Ligue 1 title from AS Monaco, along with winning Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue. But online sportsbooks in Brazil say the main reason why Neymar was bought for such an exorbitant fee, along with Kylian Mbappe from AS Monaco, was to win the most coveted club trophy there is to claim in Europe – the Champions League.

With the huge pool talent PSG command, Ligue 1 is practically their training ground and it will virtually see them win the coming championships for the foreseeable future with ease. The real ambition is to lift the European Cup, which they’ve been after since Qatar Sports Investment took over the club in the summer of 2011. And the reason behind this transcends football, as they’re trying to get their name out and get more support ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

So far, the football community has been sceptical about staging a World Cup event in a country that has virtually no footballing tradition, as they’ve never managed to qualify for the event in their history. Moreover, Qatar has been scrutinized as a host nation for the World Cup due to allegations of bribery involving FIFA officials, namely former FIFA president Sepp Blatter who has been trialled and banned from football since.