Barcelona Transfer Rumors 2016: Which of Neymar, Messi or Suarez Should Barcelona Sell?
Talk about a way of killing the buzz.
Barcelona struggled to get into top form at the start of 2015-16, an understandable situation considering that its top players had performed late into the 2014-15 season and throughout the summer.
But recent weeks have seen the team surge to top form, taking down hated rival Real Madrid 4-0 on the road. The main reason for the success? The play of its trident, the MSN, made up of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.
Now the news has hit that the team may need to sell one of the players to remain financially viable.
The Sun reports that the club's entire wage bill makes up a whopping 73 percent of the team's total revenue. Messi is reportedly making close to $50 million per year per Forbes; Neymar is estimated to make over $10 million per year and Suarez is looking at over $15 million as well. Factor in that two of the players are due for a new contract, which will undoubtedly up the cost and you have a very real situation in which selling one or two or even three of the trident members is a very real possibility. The reason why they are attractive to sell?
All three have massive buyout clauses that cost well over $200 million apiece (The Sun has them listed at a combined 492 million pounds) and are playing at a level few, if any, will ever reach. It is the principle of selling high at its finest. According to Forbes, the team's overall revenue is over $600 million, which puts the three combined at costing almost 12.5 percent of the team's total revenue.
The team's preoccupation with this situation has been fueled by the massive costs of reconstructing its home stadium, the Camp Nou, which will cost upwards of 400 million pounds. Graham Hunter of ESPN suggested that the team sell the name rights of the stadium to bring in revenue to offset the situation, though there is still concern that the team's need to increase the costs on its major players could still cause issues down the line.
So of the three which would you sell?
The two that keep on cropping up in conversations are Messi and Neymar. Suarez seems to be a tougher proposition given his age (28) and the fact that he has likely hit his ceiling. Throw in the turbulent past marred by biting opposing players and racism controversies and you have a player that few would be willing to splurge on for the price.
Messi and Neymar are wholly different animals. Messi is the best player on the planet and even at 28, there is some notion that he can still get better and adapt his game as father time comes into play in a very real way. He would easily bring in the most cash, not only for his playing abilities but for his marketing appeal. People love his humble personality and any club that is looking to buy him would benefit from him in this respect. Moreover, there is a sense that Messi might be looking for the way out after facing many legal issues over tax evasion in the last few years. He may be looking for an escape and the team would have to oblige him.
Neymar is the youngest of the three and hence the one with the highest ceiling. He might actually be the one that is either the easiest sell or the one that is hardest to get away from. He too has had his share of controversies in Spain over his purchase from Brazil a few years ago, but there is no denying that in Messi's recent absence, Neymar was the catalyst for Barcelona's return to top form. One could make the argument that in a manner of two or three years, he will be the best player in the world, surpassing Messi. Some already have him right on par with his Barcelona teammate for that status. At 24, he is not even in his prime and would only improve with time. He could fetch the highest value, especially when you throw in his lower costs at the moment, but he might also be the biggest long-term loss for Blaugrana.
Of course selling any or two of these players essentially decimates Blaugrana up front. The team has been able to forgo its questionable defense and inconsistent midfield mainly because of the contributions of those three up front. Neymar and Suarez showed that two of them could co-exist and carry the team; losing two of the three could cripple the squad irreparably. Of course one must consider that Barcelona would go out and find some big name players, but they would hardly be on the same level.
Which of the three would you sell?