Neymar Jr and Lionel Messi have remained very good friends since their first stint together at Barcelona.
The two stars played for the Catalan club for a solid 4 years before the Brazilian moved to PSG in 2017 for a record-breaking transfer fee of 222 million euros.
Later in 2021, La Pulga joined him at PSG, and they played together again for two seasons.
In 2023, their paths diverged once more. Messi decided to move to the United States and join Inter Miami, while Neymar went to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Hilal.
Before the Argentine national team captain chose to join Inter Miami, he had offers from Saudi Arabia as well, notably from Al Hilal. Financially, the Saudi club’s offers were even more lucrative than those from the American club, and Neymar also tried to convince him. However, Messi made his decision based on his family’s desires.
“I contacted Messi at the end of his PSG contract to join me at Al Hilal before I signed my contract because the club was interested in him. Messi was aware of the situation and was also tempted by the substantial sum of money he would receive. But he told me that his family wanted to go to America, and for him, only his family’s comfort mattered above all else, not money. Messi holds his family sacred and devotes a lot of time to them, without worrying about anything else,” said the Brazilian.
Leave a Reply