In the summer of 2017, a transfer soap opera that lasted for two months was staged in the football world, starring Neymar, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. Barcelona's vice president vowed to reporters at the press conference:
"Neymar will stay. We have not received any offers and will not sell him."
Two days later, Paris Saint-Germain informed Barcelona that we would activate Neymar's liquidated damages clause also arrived in the mail with a check for 220 million euros. Barcelona's top brass was stunned, and Neymar packed his bags and flew to Paris.
Neymar transfers to Paris
You must know that five months ago, Neymar had just led Barcelona to score three goals in 7 minutes, and reversed Paris 6-1 after falling behind by four goals in the first round. Neymar has been regarded by everyone at Camp Nou as Messi's successor and Barcelona's next king. After Neymar left, Barcelona seemed to have lost its soul and began a series of mysterious operations.
Operations of Barcelona's senior management
Sickly buying people in a hurry
Neymar is gone, and the invincible MSN Trident only has two letters left. Barcelona is naturally the world's replacement for Neymar. But it was already August when Neymar left, and most transfers and contract renewals had been settled. And when Barcelona went to negotiate with the huge sum of 220 million in hand, no club was willing to let go at a low price. The whole world knows that you are rich. If not, who will kill you?
In the end, Barcelona signed Dembele, who scored 10 goals and 20 assists in Dortmund that season, at a very high price. Including bonuses and other terms, the total transfer price of Dembele is 140 million euros. After Dembele came to Barcelona, he only scored 4 goals and provided 7 assists in one season. Although Barcelona still topped La Liga thanks to Messi's superb performance, Neymar's vacancy has still not been filled.
Dembele's sky-high transfer to Barcelona
Only six months later, Barcelona, found that Dembele could not replace Neymar at all, decided to sign another already famous wing superstar. They spent a total of 135 million euros to sign Coutinho from Liverpool. In just six months, two transactions cost 275 million euros. Barcelona's top brass seemed to be proving something. It proves that they tried their best to cover up their panic after Neymar left, and it proves that their sick operating model is slowly bringing down a top club.
Only half a year later, Barcelona spent a huge sum of money to sign Coutinho.
Incompetent senior management
If the incompetence of the senior management is limited to buying people indiscriminately, Barcelona fans may not feel despair and anger. But the mysterious operation of Barcelona's top management still doesn't stop there. They first dismissed head coach Valverde despite the opposition of the team's core players, Messi, Pique and others. At that time, Valverde led the team to win consecutive La Liga championships and beat their archrival Real Madrid. When reporters exposed that team executives spent money to hire trolls from the Internet to discredit their own meritorious players, fans could no longer sit still. They all impeached Bartomeu and asked him to hand over the management rights of the team.
Bartomeu was even arrested for economic crimes
Players fell ill
Although Neymar left, the players he bought could not completely replace him. But Messi and Suarez, who are still at their peak, still maintain world-class performance. Messi scored 45+18 in the 17-18 season, and 51+19 in the 18-19 season. Barcelona has won the La Liga title for two consecutive seasons and is still going strong. However, in the Champions League, for two consecutive seasons, they were reversed by Roma and Liverpool when they were leading by a big score. The performance of Umtiti, Alba, Dembélé and other players in key matches was nothing short of criminal.
Liverpool reversed Barcelona 4-0
After wiping away Messi's peak in the last two years, Barcelona began to decline. In the 19/20 season, they were severely humiliated by Bayern with an 8-2 game. In the 20/21 season, they lost to Paris 2-5 in two rounds. After losing Messi last season, they did not even qualify for the group stage, which has not happened in more than ten years.
Summary
Neymar's departure is not a disaster, he is just a magnifying glass that exposes the corruption and incompetence of Barcelona's top management to the sun. The inefficiency of some Barcelona players is magnified to the world.When Messi is no longer at his peak, Suarez leaves Atletico Madrid, and Barcelona's decadent and aging dynasty completely collapses!
frustrated Messi
