Neymar’s transfer has had inevitable consequences.
The Brazilian joined Paris Saint-Germain for world record fee earlier this month, and the transfer has had an effect on clubs and players throughout the sport. Barcelona are interested in signing Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele to bolster their squad after losing Neymar, meaning both Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund may soon be in the market for new players.
They will sign players from clubs lower down the transfer food chain, and do to them what Barcelona are attempting in their pursuit of Coutinho and Dembele.
Neymar’s move has also had an effect on his new teammates as the French club need to balance the books. Well, they don’t really, because they’re owned by an oil-rich state, but they currently have a lot of talented players, and not enough room to fit them in their squad. Something has to give, and the clear-out began with on Tuesday with Stoke City signing Jese Rodriguez on loan.
On Wednesday, Blaise Matuidi joined Juventus for £18.2m, with Serge Aurier, Hatem Ben Arfa, Grzegorz Krychowiak and Lucas Moura the others up for sale. According to ESPN, Liverpool and Roma are interested in the Brazilian.
Lucas Moura was thought to be on his way out of PSG until Neymar’s arrival. The pair are childhood friends, and the club were reportedly prepared to retain Lucas to keep Neymar happy – because half a million a week and playing against Metz clearly wasn’t enough to keep Neymar smiling.
However, it appears that thought has been abandoned. Lucas joined PSG from Sao Paulo in 2012, costing a then-club record fee of £38m. The winger has scored a respectable 44 goals in 212 games for the French club, but is now surplus to requirements and is clearly being offered to clubs throughout Europe.
