Neymar is once again at the center of attention in the football world, but not due to a megadeal like when he swapped Barcelona for Paris for 222,000,000 euros or when he decided to leave Europe and embark on an Arabian adventure. Now, the focus is on his departure from Al Hilal, where he didn’t get much playing time due to injury, and a potential transfer to MLS. The Brazilian pushed all of that to the background during his appearance on the podcast of his fellow countryman and football legend Romário. He sat down and opened the book of his football life, and we took just a small part of this big interview.“I don’t regret anything I’ve done in my career,” Neymar began the conversation with Romário and continued: “All the mistakes I made during my career and life have helped me grow and mature as a person.”🚨🚨🚨Neymar discussed with Romario how Mbappe became jealous once Messi arrived and that the issue ultimately with PSG was ego: “Mbappe was a boy who was fundamental when he first arrived. I used to call him the golden boy. I always talked with him, joked with him, said that… pic.twitter.com/ZApidzv6Ji— Brasil Football 🇧🇷 (@BrasilEdition) January 17, 2025 Once that was cleared up, Neymar answered the former football star’s question about why he chose Barcelona over Real Madrid in 2013, even though both clubs wanted him…”I don’t regret that choosing Barcelona over Real Madrid. I followed my heart. I wanted to play with Messi. Barcelona was the club I loved. I had always followed them, ever since the Ronaldinho era, and I kept saying, ‘I want to be here.’ And it happened. But it was an intense few days. During those two or three days, I didn’t train at all; I just went from home to the office to resolve the dilemma. People from Real kept calling me, and so did Barcelona’s. I spoke to both presidents, and I couldn’t rationalize things. I imagined myself playing for both teams. But my heart clearly said I should choose Barcelona. And so, I went to Barcelona” he revealed.”I do feel bitterness toward the people running PSG’But when he eventually came to Camp Nou, everything went wrong. It was only after a chat with Lionel Messi that he started playing football like everybody expected.”I came to Barcelona when I was 21 or 22, they had just won the Confederations Cup against Spain. I didn’t feel confident enough to play there. It was six months of not being able to dribble past anyone, doing everything wrong. There was a day when I felt totally desperate. I went to half-time of the match against Athletic very angry, I started to cry. Then Messi knocked on the door and asked me why I was crying. I told him it was nothing. He said he was there to help me and that I should play the football I played at Santos, without pressure. He said I could count on him. After that, I started to arrive with more confidence, more excited and things started to work out” said Neymar.Arabian fiasco with Neymar – each stepping out on the pitch cost Al Hilal €34,000,000?!If the wanted to come to Barcelona and choose the Catalans instead of Real Madrid, the next logical question would be why did he left the club after four years?“My motivation was not to win individual awards… I didn’t follow that thought, to be honest. I didn’t leave Barça with the idea of being the best in the world. In my last week in Barcelona, Messi asked me: ‘Why are you leaving? Do you want to be the best in the world? I’m going to make you the best in the world’. But it wasn’t that, it was other personal things. Of course, financially PSG was much better than Barcelona and there were Brazilians playing there (Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Daniel Alves and Lucas) and they were all my friends. I took the risk, but it wasn’t with the idea of being the best in the world” he revealed.🚨🗣️ Neymar:“When Suarez was competing with Cristiano for the Golden Shoe, Messi and I did everything we could to make him score Goals.” 😳 pic.twitter.com/uH0jhqcMi8— TCR. (@TeamCRonaldo) January 17, 2025 During his six years in Paris, Neymar won numerous domestic trophies, but the one thing he was brought in for – the Champions League – eluded him. The Qatari owners tried in every way to build a super team capable of conquering Europe, but they failed, even when they added Lionel Messi alongside Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. It was then, Neymar says, that things began to heat up seriously…“It is good to have egos. But you have to know that you don’t play alone. There needs to be another guy by your side. Big egos were almost everywhere, it can’t work. If nobody runs and nobody helps, it is impossible to win anything“ said Neymar. Neymar negotiating with three USA clubsHe also revealed that former PSG star was a bit jealous when Messi arrived to Paris.”Mbappé is not boring. I have my things with him, we had a little fight, but he was fundamental for us when he arrived. I called him ‘Golden Boy’. I always played with him, I said he was going to be one of the best. I always helped him, I spoke to him, he came to my house, we had dinner together. We had a few good years of partnership, but after Messi arrived Mbappé was a bit jealous. And then there were some fights, a change in behaviour” revealed the Brazilian.Buffon claims in his autobiography: “Neymar deserves five Ballon d’Ors”But the episode with PSG soon ended in a bad way an Neymar moved to Saudi Arabia.“PSG is the club where I spent the longest time in my career, six years. I experienced some very nice moments, but also sad moments. And my relationship with the fans is one of the saddest moments, unfortunately. But on a sporting level it was the best football I played. I have no resentment, but I am sad with the way I was treated by the fans. For me it was unfair, because I always gave my all on the pitch. I don’t hold any grudges, but I am a little sad about the way I was treated by the fans, especially when they came to my house, when they wanted to invade my house, insult me or hit me. For me they crossed the line. I have no resentment towards the club, I just have a little resentment towards the people who run the club and some of the fans“ he explained.##NAJAVA_MECA_8640939##
