Barcelona Keeper Claims Neymar’s Departure Made Them Stronger

After transferring from Barcelona to PSG last summer in a world-record €222m deal, Neymar left a hole in the attack of the Nou Camp side, and many believed they couldn’t cope without him and his goals from the wing. But Blaugrana keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is convinced his departure has had a positive effect on the team and the way they play their game, according to online sportsbook news.

Neymar is a top player, but not indispensable, ter Stegen says

“The quality of Ney, you can’t explain it,” said ter Stegen, who joined Barcelona in the summer of 2014 as part of the club’s then player overhaul. “Because he was super important us, as a person (and) in the team, as a footballer.”

The 25-year-old German suggested Neymar perhaps left the club in search of other accolades he has not yet won with Barcelona - quite possibly personal trophies such the Ballon d’Or. But even without the Brazilian in their side, ter Stegen believes they now have a squad that can compete for the top prizes in football, having effectively assembled a new, stronger team.

“Now, everyone needs to understand what he did because maybe he wants to win something else, also personally. His decision only he knows but in the end we had to compensate all this and this is not easy because he had so much quality, but we did it in a different way and now we have a very, very strong team.”

Having already practically secured their La Liga title this season, the Blaugrana side will likely shift their focus to the Champions League – a competition they’re 2nd favourites to win with odds of 6.00 (7/1), per providers of internet betting in EU. (Take a look at our review about Bet365 Sportsbook for more info.)

Neymar is enjoying a marvellous time with PSG at the moment

Since leaving the Nou Camp and swapping it for Parc des Princes last summer, Neymar has found the back of the net 19 times in 19 Ligue 1 appearances, while overall his tally stands at 28 goals in 29 games. Those are pretty impressive stats for his first season in France, which is in stark comparison to his first season in Spain when he managed to score only 15 goals in total. Granted, in his debut season with the Catalan side (2013/14) he was younger and has since then matured into a more potent player.

But even still it’s worth noting that defenders in the French league are perceived as inferior to defenders to those in other top leagues across Europe, so let’s take that into consideration as well when assessing Neymar’s impeccable form this season.

However, the 26-year-old Brazilian forward faces the same problems at Parc des Princes for which he supposedly left Nou Camp, and that involves him wanting to be the main attacking threat for his club – the “only” superstar that carries the team. Perhaps if he didn’t face competition up front from teammate Cavani – who himself has 30 goals in 35 games overall – the Brazilian would have likely bagged even more goals until this stage. So the question is could PSG sell the Uruguayan striker once the transfer window opens in order to please their bigger, Brazilian star so that he can finally command the third half of the pitch entirely on his own.