Neymar’s New Deal Means He Must Deliver Consistent Brilliance for Barcelona

It was there for all to see against Villarreal in November 2015. Neymar flicked the ball over a defender’s head, spun around and volleyed it home. It was one of the goals of the season and the Brazilian’s 12th from 14 games. At the time, based purely on form, he was the world’s best player.

With Lionel Messi out injured, Neymar grew to fill the gap. While Luis Suarez added goals, the former Santos man did the same but also commandeered Barcelona’s creative duties as well, spurring on his side to set the pace at the top of the table.

Until the end of January, Neymar went from strength to strength, continuing to shine even after Messi’s return, as his relationship with the Argentinian thrived, likewise their partnership with Suarez.

The only cloud in the sky was over his contract, with talks dragging on and links to Real Madrid emerging, per Ed Malyon of the Daily Mirror, although at no moment did it look likely that Neymar would do a Luis Figo and swap La Rambla for the Castellana.

However, with rumours circling, things began to turn bad for him on the field by the end of February. Nothing was paying off for Neymar. The goals had dried up. Dribbles weren’t unbalancing opponents the way they used to. He was getting frustrated, with opponents and with himself.

Neymar’s drop in form after his third-place finish in the Ballon d’Or was worrying. To some extent the general level Barcelona as a team were playing at dipped, as the players tired, despite Luis Enrique’s protestations that the physical statistics were better than before.

But of the players, Neymar’s low period seemed more severe than anyone else’s. For around 12 months, everything he touched turned to gold, but in the three after that—from March to May in 2016—he seemed able to do little right.

There was even a goal drought of 579 minutes, which eventually ended when he was played in by Suarez during a cathartic 8-0 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna, as both Neymar and Barcelona rediscovered their scoring touch to set their league campaign back on target.

Another goal followed, against Sporting Gijon as Barcelona won 6-0, but Neymar was still far below his best. He was missing golden opportunities, but he eventually bagged a penalty after his strike partners let him have it.

He looked …

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