In the summer of 2017 Neymar left Barcelona and joined PSG, in a still record transfer fee of 222 million Euros. In this post we will look how Barça tried to replace him and if they succeeded.
Please note the following:
- Data for season 2020-21 is accurate on 11.01.2021
- In order to view the graphs and charts clearly, please use a bigger screen. If you are on a mobile device, use the landscape orientation for a better view.
Since Neymar left, Barcelona bought (or promoted from the youth teams) 8 different forwards: Braithwaite, Coutinho, Dembélé, Deulofeu, Fati, Griezmann, Malcom, and Trincão. We will try to analyse how they individually compare to Neymar. At later stages, we will see how the summarized performance of all others forwards compares to Neymar’s performance. Let’s start.
While the Neymar sticks out with the highest fee, he is also the one that has the best G+A ratio per 90 minutes. Worth taking into consideration that Neymar was able to perform at high level for a very long time, as he played a great number of minutes (14911) during his 4-year stint with Barça. From the rest of the players Fati has the best numbers, but I would argue to see if he can sustain these numbers, especially after long injury. Dembélé has good numbers, even more so if we take into consideration his constant injuries. He gets a lot of criticism from fans and media, but he looks solid. Trincão is at the bottom of the chart, but I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions just yet, he is young and new in the team and on top off that Barcelona struggled this season like they haven’t in a long time. List of all players and their production per 90 minutes can be seen on the chart below.
As already written above, Neymar is on the top, closely followed by Fati and then Dembélé. Last game vs Granada helped Griezmann (2 goals & 1 assist) to improve his numbers.
Next thing, we are looking is the summarized performance of the other players compared to Neymar’s performance.
Although Barcelona spent almost half a billion on new forwards since Neymar left, they weren’t able to replace him fully on the pitch. He still has more goals & assists than all the other players from our list together. Even if he played around 30% minute less, he was still able to produce more than the others together.
But how Barça in general performed before, during and after Neymar’s time with the team?
Neymar spent 4 seasons with Barcelona, and looking at 4 seasons before his arrival we can see a lot of ups and downs. Similar was during his stint; 1st year was rough, both for him and for the team. His 2nd and 3rd season were successful both individually and team wise, as they won back to back La Liga titles. During those 2 seasons he produced 46 goals and 19 assists in the league solely. Even if Barça scored astonishing 116 goals during 2016-17 La Liga campaign, still Ney’s last season ended with 2nd place.
After Neymar’s departure we can see clear decline in goals scored, while points won were still impressive during 2017-18 & 2018-19, which was good for 2 more La Liga titles. Last season and especially current one are showing clear decline for Barcelona, on both parameters: goals scored and points won.
Is this all happening because Neymar left? I would say yes and no. Of course, losing one of the best players in the world is always going to be felt. But other, maybe even more important reasons for Barcelona’s decline are misjudgments of the management: wrong players brought in, foolishly spent money, not improving other areas of the team. Fit and healthy Fati & Dembélé are the light at the end of the tunnel for Barça fans. At least on this topic, while in general the situation at Barça is far more complex.
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