With Barcelona in dire straits, the majority of fans seem to be in agreement over cashing in on Neymar.
Ever since Neymar arrived at Barcelona for 57.1 million Euros, he has lived up to his price tag and then some. He played a big role in Barca’s treble success last season and has continued his good form with 21 goals and 10 assists so far. Even when they faced a two-month period where Lionel Messi was out of action, Neymar’s consistent performance was the reason they kept winning, even scoring four goals against Rayo Vallecano.
Now, however, times have changed. Barcelona’s nine-point lead at the top of La Liga has dissipated, and only one point separates Atletico and Real Madrid. They have been knocked out of the Champions League and could finish this season with just a Copa del Rey trophy. Through it all, Neymar has gone through his own struggles. He hasn’t scored in five straight and was caught on video allegedly swearing at Jordi Alba.
Suffice to say, fans have had enough of him. The website Sport (h/t Daily Mail) ran a poll asking whether the team should activate Neymar’s buyout clause of 150 million pounds, and an overwhelming 61 percent said yes. It’s not like seven people voted on the poll either — in fact, the total was 7,000 people.
Even though the team has been struggling and Neymar has not behaved well, this would be a drastic measure to take. 150 million pounds is a lot of money on one player, but a team should never cash out for the sake of cashing out, and considering his talent, most teams would pay that in a heartbeat. He would be worth it too.
Nobody can win the treble every year, and there’s still a good chance that Barca can win the league. The last thing that needs to be hovering around the team are distractions such as this. If Neymar is unsettled, so be it, but let him take out his frustrations on the pitch. It’s not worth it to see Neymar in a Real Madrid shirt just because a group of fans feel strongly about him. Polls like this are the reason the board makes these decisions and not the fans.
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