The dust has definitely settled over Neymar’s pants-dampening move to Paris-Saint Germain from Barcelona … unless you’re a member of the UEFA committee tasked with investigating the Brazilian playmaker’s €222 million transfer to see whether it breached FFP rules (and you can read more about the controversy in this AskFans report). It’s early days of course, but how has Neymar been performing at the French giants so far? Here’s a quick run down of every Neymar appearance this term:
August 13 FL1 @ Guingamp (W 3-0) – Neymar’s debut for PSG and it really could not have gone better. The Brazilian plays the full game and is easily the best player on show. He creates PSG’s first goal for Cavani, then scores himself with return help from the Uruguayan with eight minutes to go.
August 20 FL1 v Toulouse (W 6-2) – Neymar shows his debut was not a one-off in this stellar performance. Again, he is the best player on the pitch as he scores after half-an-hour then creates PSG’s second for Adrien Rabiot four minutes later. Despite having Marco Verratti sent off the Parisians remain on top and Neymar creates PSG’s fifth for Layvin Kurzawa with six to go, and scores their sixth in injury time.
August 25 FL1 v Saint-Etienne (W 3-0) – An oddly subdued performance from the Brazilian. He does play the full game though but is overshadowed by Edinson Cavani who scores twice, once from the spot. Thiago Motta scores PSG’s other goal.
September 8 FL1 @ Metz (W 5-1) – The Brazilian is back on track as PSG take Metz apart on their own turf. Another star man performance in which he scores PSG’s third after teeing up Edinson Cavani for the French side’s opener. Cavani scores twice again, with other goals from the youngster Kylian Mbappe and Lucas Moura.
September 12 UCL @ Celtic (W 5-0) – Neymar stars as PSG score five away from home for the second game in succession. The Scottish champions are played off the park, with Neymar and his companions barely required to break sweat. Neymar opens the scoring on 19, then feeds Kylian Mbappe for PSG’s second on 34. Another Cavani double and an own goal from Mikael Lustig completes the rout of Brendan Rodgers’ hapless hoops.
September 17 LG1 v Lyon (W 2-0) – Easily both PSG’s and Neymar’s worst performance of the season so far, despite the win. The Parisians have to rely upon two unlucky own goals from Marcelo and Jeremy Moral for the victory, but the game is overshadowed by Neymar and Cavani’s bickering over who should take free kicks and penalties. Cavani prevails when PSG are awarded a spot-kick, but fails to score, plus Neymar picks up a booking too.
Six games, six wins – it really can’t get any better than that. At times last season Neymar overshadowed both Messi and Ronaldo as the best player in the world, and of course PSG are hoping the Brazilian can match his 2016-17 Barca performance. Is he, though, actually worth €222 million and possible UEFA sanctioning? Time will most definitely tell.
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