Uruguayan Luis Suarez, a former Barcelona star, has revealed a secret conversation he had with his former teammates Lionel Messi and Neymar in 2017 before the latter moved to Paris Saint-Germain on a record deal.
Neymar joined the ranks of Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017, coming from Barcelona with a record deal, the most expensive in the history of football, activating a €222m penalty clause, then called the “deal of the century”.
Suárez said in an interview with the Brazilian newspaper Placar: “Neymar told us: if you want to win everything, stay with us. He agreed, but given his loved ones, it was difficult to control the situation.”
He added: “Neymar advised us as friends to stay, but his family decided to leave … and then we advised him to move to England … There is Manchester City and good football, but why France?”
And he continued: “We told Neymar: we lost because we were bad, but that will change. New players will come. He used to listen to us and say (yes, yes, I want to stay).”
He concluded: “For us Messi was the best in the world and for me Neymar was number two… and I think he (Neymar) would have won the Ballon d’Or if he had stayed at Barcelona.
Suarez talked about how Messi and Neymar helped him beat Ronaldo in the La Liga top scorer race, leaving him with penalties and assists during the season (2015-2016).
Source: agencies
