Inter Miami star Lionel Messi made a vow to assist his teammate in securing the coveted Ballon d’Or.
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Neymar, who joined Barcelona from Santos in 2013, achieved considerable success, winning La Liga twice, the Copa del Rey three times, the UEFA Champions League, and the Club World Cup.
The Brazilian striker formed a formidable attacking trio with Messi and Luis Suarez at the Catalan club.
During their time together at Barcelona, the ‘MSN’ trio played 409 games, scoring 344 goals and providing 157 assists.
While it seemed the trio would dominate football for years, Neymar made a surprising decision to join PSG in 2017.
The move significantly altered the transfer market due to the £198 million release clause PSG paid for Neymar, but Messi was eager for his attacking partner to stay.
According to Sport’s Ivan San Antonio, Messi approached Neymar just days before his departure and promised to help him win the Ballon d’Or if he remained at the Nou Camp.
The report claims Messi told Neymar: “What do you want?’ Do you want to be a Ballon d’Or [winner]? I’ll make you the Ballon d’Or.”
The reported conversation took place at the Sheraton Parsippany Hotel in New Jersey, as Barcelona prepared for their pre-season match against Juventus, which might have been Neymar’s final game for the club.
Previously, Neymar had played a pivotal role in Barcelona’s incredible 6-1 comeback against PSG, though Messi remained the focal point for the Spanish press.
At the time, rumors in Spain suggested that this moment made Neymar realize he needed to leave to achieve his goals, feeling overshadowed by Messi.
After Neymar’s move to Paris was confirmed, Messi posted a farewell message to his former teammate on Instagram.
He posted: “It was an enormous pleasure to have shared these years with you my friend @neymarjr I wish you luck in this new stage of your life.”
During a recent appearance on former Brazil star Romario’s podcast, Neymar disclosed that the true motivation for his move was the presence of his fellow Brazilians at the Ligue 1 club.
“I didn’t leave Barca to be the best in the world at PSG,” Neymar via 442.
“Messi asked, ‘Why are you leaving? Do you want to be the best player in the world? I can make you the best player in the world.’ I told him, ‘No, it’s not that, it’s something personal.’
“Obviously financially, it was better than what I had at Barcelona and there were Brazilians there too. I just wanted to play with the Brazilians. There was Thiago Silva, Dani Alves just signed, Marquinhos, Lucas Moura. They were all my friends,” he added.
