Brazilian football legend Neymar explained his controversial Barcelona exit.
Al Hilal star Neymar has explained the reasoning behind his controversial decision to leave Barcelona for French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
The 31-year-old is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation; however, for many, he could have had an even greater legacy had he stayed at Barcelona, as while his PSG stint was laden with trophies, the appropriate reputation boost did not follow.
Hence, the move has been one of the most criticised transfers in history; for many, it was a disaster.
What Neymar said
Speaking with Romario on his podcast, per Fabrizio Romano, Neymar stated that he had no regret about the move or any other in his career, as they helped him grow.
"I don't have any regrets in my career," Neymar said. "All of the mistakes I had in my career, in my life choices, were to help me grow, help me mature so I don't regret anything."
Explaining the reason behind the decision, Neymar debunked the theory claiming he left to leave Lionel Messi's shadow to aid his goal towards becoming the outright best player in the world.
He revealed that Messi made an effort to make him stay, but the PSG move's financial upside and the prospects of teaming up with the Brazilian contingent at the club were too tasty to turn down.
"I didn't leave Barça to be the best in the world at PSG," he told Romario. "Messi told me: Why are you leaving? Do you want to be the best player in the world? I can make you the best player in the world".
"I told him no. It's not that. It's something personal. Obviously, financially, it was better than what I had at Barcelona... and there were Brazilians there too.
"I wanted to play with the Brazilians. There was Thiago Silva, Dani Alves just signed, Marquinhos, Lucas Moura. They were all my friends.
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