Scottish Daily Mail

More than a club? More like a mess . . .

- PETE JENSON reports from Barcelona

Barcelona pride themselves on being ‘more than a club’.

Mes que un club is written into the seats of their stadium. But this summer the Neymar circus has shone an unflatteri­ng light on them and revealed a once-proud institutio­n as weak, directionl­ess and suddenly very unconvinci­ng on the world stage.

They have been given the runaround by a 25-year-old kid and his agent father. They played catch-up on the story right from the start and only after the tale of his potential departure to Paris saint-germain had dominated their entire Us tour did they finally start fighting back.

Neymar has taken player power to new extremes in the last two weeks and Barcelona were his victims.

Finally yesterday Barcelona showed some backbone. With the ‘WANTED: Traitor and Mercenary’, Neymar posters pasted up by fans around the city, the club made it clear in a statement that Psg would have to pay the £196m buy-out clause in full and that Neymar’s father would not be receiving the £22m commission still owed to him for the contract renewal his son signed last year.

They will also urge UEFA to investigat­e how Psg can fund the world record transfer. Barcelona will work with other top European clubs to prevent Psg breaking financial fair play rules and abusing state-sponsored investment.

UEFA will certainly monitor any new sponsorshi­p deals that Psg or Neymar sign with Qatar-based entities over the coming weeks.

If reports emanating from Brazil that Neymar may sign a £269m fiveyear publicity contract to promote the 2022 Qatar World Cup become a reality, then all eyes will be on them again. But no penalty for Psg will repair the damage to Barcelona’s reputation. Neymar’s father, who in his capacity as agent will be handsomely rewarded for his son’s move to France, has played them. some at the club believe Neymar’s departure dragged on through the summer tour in the Us because Neymar’s father feared his commission would be blocked if his son moved too early. The head of La Liga, Javier Tebas, has said he will not accept Psg’s money when the clause is deposited, because of doubts over their financing, but it is a somewhat empty threat.

The payment of the clause seems imminent and French football, backed by the sort of Qatari money that once sponsored Barcelona, has taken one of La Liga’s greatest assets. Barcelona now need to find a replacemen­t but, just as at the start of the summer when their pursuit of Psg’s Marco Verratti came to nothing, they seem incapable of landing targets.

No one has won the Champions League more times this century and during those four wins Barca became a synonym for fantasy football. And yet they struggle to make signings. Their weakness over Neymar is making them less attractive. They should have sent Neymar packing by saying: ‘It was good while it lasted, and it’s your loss, not ours.’

According to journalist and Andres Iniesta biographer Marcos Lopez, the club should have acted when pictures of Neymar larking around on a boat off the coast of Ibiza emerged a day before the club’s Us tour. He says: ‘He should not have gone on the tour. If he was unsettled he should have stayed in Barcelona to consider his position.’

Had Barca done that it would have been a show of strength. They could have argued he was not in the right frame of mind and would be a negative influence on the squad.

Their prestige friendlies would have been at risk in his absence but Real Madrid’s tour went ahead without Cristiano Ronaldo. With Lionel Messi, Barca would not suddenly have played to empty stadiums.

It’s a measure of how the club have been knocked sideways that supporters now believe there is only one thing more daunting than losing Neymar, and that’s the prospect of this board let loose in the transfer market with nearly £200m flapping in the back pocket.

Barcelona are still blessed with the greatest player in their history, a squad full of internatio­nals, a fresh sponsorshi­p deal with Japanese tech company Rakuten worth around £47m a season, and a massive global following.

What they have lost is the healthy arrogance all great clubs have to say that no single player is bigger than them.

 ?? GETTY IMAGES ?? Ground force: the Nou Camp with Barca’s motto
GETTY IMAGES Ground force: the Nou Camp with Barca’s motto
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