Neymar names PSG as career peak, ahead of Barcelona's MSN trio

Neymar ranks his six seasons at Paris Saint-Germain above everything else in his career, including his golden years at FC Barcelona alongside Messi and Suarez. The admission, made in a video published by Argentine YouTuber Davoo Xeineize, is surprising given how deeply the memory of the MSN trio remains etched in collective memory.

“For me, my best periods were at Paris Saint-Germain, when I joined the club,” the Brazilian said. “I know people remember my time at Barcelona, when I formed the MSN trio, and everything I achieved with the team, but I think the best version of Neymar emerged at Paris Saint-Germain.”

The partnership with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez in the blaugrana shirt had left a lasting mark, crowned by the Ligue des Champions title in 2015. But Neymar believes he reached another dimension after his record transfer of €222 million in summer 2017 — a fee that remains unmatched to this day.

“There, I enjoyed strength, speed and intelligence, and I became capable of knowing all the details of the pitch. For me, those were my best periods,” he insists. His Paris record lends weight to this view: 118 goals and 70 assists in 173 matches, five Ligue 1 titles and a Ligue des Champions final reached in 2020.

At 34 years old, Neymar is now back at Santos, the club that developed him in São Paulo state, after an unremarkable spell at Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia. This nostalgic look back at Paris comes as the player enters the final stretch of a career marked by injuries and gradual decline over the past five years.