The Upside To Neymar Transfer

The world record fee transfer for Brazilian superstar Neymar, from Barcelona to PSG, was seen as a significant loss for The Catalans as it saw to the end of the MSN (Messi, Suarez and Neymar) trident. The trio scored a combined 253 goals over recent seasons and have been dubbed as one the most deadly attacking trios in football history.

Looking from that perspective, the Brazilians transfer does seem to be a loss on Barcelona’s part, but also consider the fact that out of those three Neymar contributed a fewer number of goals, with a tally of 95 during the MSN era. Just look back to last season where Neymar scored just 20 goals throughout the the entirety of the season, a small return compared to Suarez’s 41 and the 56 goals scored by Messi. The only stat the Brazilian had bettered compared to his former teammates was in the assists column with 19 throughout last season.

The above  information is not to downplay the Brazilian’s contribution  to Barca’s success, but to illustrate that life will indeed go on for Barcelona and the huge sums of money mean that have they have options to consider as to what direction the club will be taken.

Barcelona could go with the more immediate solution by securing the signatures of long time transfer target Phillipe Coutinho, along with Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele and Monaco’s Thomas Lemar. This would ensure that the Catalans would build a proper squad rather than relying heavily on three players to carry the team.

Barcelona’s reliance on the MSN trident backfired last season as they were hammered 4-1 in the away leg against PSG, and although their recovery was spectacular it couldn't be replicated as Juventus got the better of Barca with a 3-0 win in Turin.

This can be accounted for the lack of strength in last season's squad. Outside of the starting eleven that Barca had last season you could pick only a few players who could make any impact.

Another option that Barcelona can consider would be going back to what made them dominate world football, and that is to go back to grooming their own talent through their La Masia academy. A host of Barca's best came through the ranks of their development programme among those include Lionel Messi, Xavi, Pique, Iniesta just to name a few.

That model produced a team that was well balanced, with an emphasis on winning playing great football. Throughout a succession of years this model proved to be the envy of world football with strength not only in the starting eleven, but also throughout the squad.

This would be a model Barcelona would do well to consider going back to as had worked for them in the past.