Neymar transfer: Potential landing spots for PSG star, including Barcelona, Manchester United and Newcastle

The last couple years of the transfer market have seen some incredible action. Last year, it was Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain and Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United that shook up the landscape of European soccer. This summer we’ve already seen Erling Haaland move to Manchester City, and Kylian Mbappe almost ended up at Real Madrid before pulling an about face and returning to PSG. While the market continues to bring surprises, a new name entering the rumor mill is that of PSG superstar Neymar. Brough in to take the Parisians to new heights, they’ve long been dominant in France and largely inconsistent on the continental scale. He’s battled off-the-field issues, he’s struggled to stay healthy and consistent on it, and it might be the time for him to move on and revive his club career. Neymar is reportedly bothered by recent comments from club chairman and CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi, seemingly opening the door for any perceived uncommitted player to go.

Here are three teams that make sense:

Manchester United  

This one is all about money and because Manchester United have not done a single thing in the transfer market. Do I think it will happen? No, not at all. Would I love to see it? You bet. New boss Erik ten Hag would surely prefer a much more reasonable and younger Antony, who he coached at Ajax. But you cannot ignore the lure of having Neymar pairing in attack with Cristiano Ronaldo. The Glazer family knows a thing or two about bringing big talents together, having done it with their NFL franchise, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They brought in Tom Brady, they reunited him with Rob Gronkowski, and both were key in the Bucs winning the Super Bowl two seasons ago. 

For Neymar, minutes wouldn’t be hard to come by in a team lacking real depth. Jadon Sancho has yet to impress and only a handful of players have their spot cemented. Let’s face it — Marcus Rashford has not become the superstar some expected, and Anthony Elanga needs further development. Neymar would bring excitement, flair and a ton of skill, and if he doesn’t bring the injury bug with him, it could work. 

Most great talents want to try the Premier League out, and this move could be massively exciting for the Red Devils.

Newcastle 

This almost feels like the most likely spot, as crazy as it sounds to read aloud. But, they now have money following the Saudi Arabia-backed takeover in October of 2021, going from a club with hopes of avoiding relegation to one looking to fight with the big boys. After making some significant moves like landing Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes and just beating AC Milan to land Dutch defender Sven Botman, could they convince Neymar to join a team that has massive aspirations and can recruit him on being the face of the club? Well, we’ve heard that one before. 

But in all seriousness, getting Neymar would add instant belief and credibility, much like it did for Manchester City when they landed Robinho in 2008 to start their Abu Dhabi United Group era. Since then, they’ve won countless trophies in England and are Champions League contenders each season, though the Robinho move itself was a high profile bust.

From a spectator’s perspective, can you imagine having Neymar and Newcastle’s current fun, tricky winger, Allan Saint-Maximin, battling it out on the pitch to show who has the most flair, despite being teammates? The world isn’t ready for that. 

Neymar is 30 years old but still has plenty to offer. He’ll fill the stands, he has a lovely touch of the ball that could thrive in the Premier League, and Neymar becoming the face of (another) new money club as they start to battle it out with the big boys would be a sight to behold. 

Considering this team’s big signing in attack since the Saudi takeover was Chris Wood, you can do a lot worse than Neymar. Landing him surely wouldn’t make them top four contenders by any stretch, but maybe Europa League contenders, and it would add a bit of magic back to a club that wants to return to where it once was — among England’s elite. 

Barcelona 

With every rumored player to Barcelona, you have to wonder how in the world they would pull it off financially. And if given the choice, they would try to get Lionel Messi back first. But a Neymar return to Barca would sure be something. 

This almost certainly isn’t happening as Barca focus on Robert Lewandowski, who wants to leave Bayern Munich, and Neymar has felt closer to Real Madrid than Barca in recent years. But it would bring life back into a Barca attack that needs it after some serious struggles post Lionel Messi. They failed to win a trophy last season and were knocked out of the Champions League group stage.

Neymar’s best years were in Spain, producing two 30-goal seasons. He hasn’t achieved a 30-goal season at PSG and has just 30 total goals the last two seasons combined. 

He played with Barca coach Xavi, so there is a ton of familiarity there, but unless they somehow can convince PSG to let him join on loan, you can forget about this one.