We should buy another player instead of Neymar. I'd rather go for Sancho from Dortmund, who is versatile and can play on both wings. Once Fati is ready, we ball with Sancho and Fati on the sides.
Take the 150m. and pay the money for Sancho. And with some luck you are set for a decade of football with two explosive hard working wingers on each side.
Neymar at this point in time is such a dumb move.
So, in a way, you are right, because Fati is not ready yet as a clear full time starter, and we still need a LW for 2 seasons or so until he is ready. So it should be Neymar vs someone else as a transfer we should make.
You said it yourself: if we sign a LW, it should only be to take the load off of Fati to allow him to continue to develop. We are already over-relying on him way too much. I actually think Fati could work on the right and could be as versatile as Sancho.
With Sancho, I see a lot of why you’d point to him. His upside is obviously enormous and he has a lot of similar qualities as Ney. It’s not a bad suggestion but I simply don’t trust Brits here and the adaption process from England to Bundesliga isn’t as big of a leap as Dortmund to us would be. He’s probably a smarter player than monkey-brains but look at Dembele, injuries aside, his adaption hasn’t been that smooth. It wouldn’t be much easier for Sancho and that’s a bigger risk than Ney’s foot for me. If we make this move, it needs to be right because this has been a mess (the replacements we’ve tried) from the jump.
For me, it’s deeper than just wanting revenge or being a Ney fanboy. I hate his baggage and attitude sometimes too but I really do believe he’d put some of that aside. This shit simply never should have happened and very rarely in life do you get a chance to right a wrong and it'd be nice to see it here. From a sporting perspective especially though, and these are the keys for me: he’s proven quality at the highest of stages, his adaption will be seamless and his connection with Messi is phenomenal. There isn’t another signing we can make that can guarantee all three of those things, plain and simple. So while there is risk and baggage in this move potentially, for sure, I am still supportive of it for these reasons.
With Luis clearly past it for a while now, we are increasingly losing the players Messi links with the best and having someone like Ney who is already on his wavelength is our best hope for getting him the trophies he deserves. I think that’s a part of why Messi has been pushing for him the way he has.
I think the heir to Messi’s throne has arrived, we don’t need to go to the market for this which is why when I really think about it, that’s why it makes more sense to sign Ney over even Mbappe. I’m sure I’ll get flack for this but you have to be realistic here: if we go in for Mbappe, the same shit that happened this summer will play out again. Real will enter as well, drive up the price and make it a bidding war. And if y’all think they were nasty over Neymar, how do you think they’ll react to us going for Mbappe instead?! It would take close to probably 300 mil just to get them close to considering letting Kylian leave, especially if Real get involved. We should have signed him, like many other PSG players we’ve liked in the past, when he was at Monaco. Furthermore, PSG were only open to selling Ney to us because Ney and the board left them with little choice. That won't be the case with Mbappe, and I just think he is kinda destined to go Blanco at some point and I'm okay with that. He is great but I personally think his career trajectory will be more like Henry than Messi.
Lastly, in 5 years time, we could have a veteran Neymar and Ansu leading the line with maybe Dembele & Greiz in the mix, a MF of Puig/Alena-de Jong-Arthur with Xavi at the wheel. That's a strong post-Messi scenario for us. To be clear, this team would be Neymar's for a sec but most likely Ansu's. I fully believe in Ansu and believe we should go all-in on him: leave room in the squad for him to be
the dude here like Messi has been for so long and by the time Neymar is probably done at the highest level, he will be right in his prime, so the timing will be perfect. In sum, Neymar will get less in the way of Ansu's development here than someone like Mbappe or Sancho, which is why I see this as a false dilemma. I actually do kinda like the idea of Kylian vs Ansu being the new Ronaldo vs Messi, just like the latter pair pushed each other to be better, I think Mbappe at Real would do the same think for Ansu.
That is my take on it, I'm sure many will disagree but there is practicality in this potential move that I think people, not you specifically but in general, overlook due to emotion.
