Neymar moved to Paris Saint-Germain last summer with the aim of bringing a Champions League title to the French capital, but the Parisians are already out of this year's edition of the continental tournament.
This is exactly what some Barcelona players warned the Brazilian might happen. Although injury prevented him from playing in the second leg, the first-leg defeat to Real Madrid had already left PSG with a mountain to climb, highlighting just how far behind the European elite they remain.
Gerard Pique was one of the members of the Blaugrana squad who tried the hardest to convince Neymar to stay when the rumours started circling last summer.
"We will try to stay close to him so that he makes the right decision," the centre-back said from the United States, where the Catalan club had their pre-season tour."He has to think about what the priority is for him."What does he want? More titles? More money?"
Others, such as Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi held a similar view, believing that going to France might not pay off in a sporting sense.
The rain, the cold and the lack of a beach were other reasons presented to Neymar when members of the squad were trying to persuade him to stay at the Camp Nou.
Directors such as Josep Maria Bartomeu, Robert Fernandez and Raul Sanllehi all tried to warn him and to convince him to stay too, however PSG's Maxwell Scherrer and Antero Henrique had a bigger influence on his thinking and then managed to persuade him to move to France.
He was offered more promises, money and privileges whenever he had second thoughts and they even signed his friend Dani Alves.Ultimately, the 26-year-old packed his bags and left the Catalan capital.
Now in Paris, he'll be watching the rest of the Champions League on the television, from the quarter-finals stage onwards, something that never happened during his time at Barcelona, where he also won 10 titles in four years.
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