In contrast to previous seasons, Barcelona played
their trump card in the transfer market early this
year by securing the services of Brazilian starlet
Neymar for 57 million euros back in May.
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The 21-year-old had been on the Catalans' radar for some time with Barca having even made a down payment of 10 million euros to Santos for first option on the player a year previously.
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However, the confirmation of his transfer was
hastened by the feeling that Barca needed to react
quickly to having been thrashed 7-0 by Bayern
Munich in last season's Champions League
semifinals.
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Initial scepticism as to whether Barca really needed
another forward option rather than a defender
subsided after Neymar's stunning performances as
Brazil won the Confederations Cup in June.
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One question that remains unanswered though is
how Neymar's talents will dovetail with four-time
World Player of the Year Lionel Messi?
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As much as the Argentine is often lauded for not being the stereotypical egotistical modern footballer, the success that both player and club have had in recent years has very much depended on building the side around Messi's talents.
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The need for Messi to play in a deep-lying central striking role hastened the sale of Samuel Eto'o, resulted in Zlatan Ibrahimovic ending his sole season in Catalonia on the bench and has also limited Cesc Fabregas' chances to play where he has successfully combined with Xavi and Andres Iniesta with Spain.
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Those sacrifices though have been worth a return of
271 goals over the past five seasons and concerns
over how Messi and Neymar will co-exist appear to
have been overblown for a number of reasons.
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Firstly, as much as they still need defenders, Barca
also desperately needed a scoring option that isn't
Messi.
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Over the past five seasons in which Messi has starred, Barca have won the Champions League twice and on both occasions Messi was outscored by his striking partners over the course of the season.
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In 2008/09 Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry
combined for 62 goals to Messi's 38 and in 2010/11
Pedro and David Villa's joint tally of 55 just edged
past Messi's 53.
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By contrast in the last two seasons, while Messi has
rattled in more than 50 goals each time, Barca's
second top scorers were Villa with 16 and Cesc
Fabregas' 15 in 2011/12.
It's gonna be tough for both of them cos they are both dope when it comes to scoring goals. Barcelona is blessed!