Live

LIVE: The Saturday Panel

01:30 PM-02:30 PM

LIVE: The Saturday Panel
Advertisement
Soccer

'A lot of people at Barca would love to see Neymar back' | Dermot Corrigan

Speaking to Off The Ball  ESPN's Madrid correspondent Dermot Corrigan said there are plenty of p...



'A lot of people at Barca woul...
Soccer

'A lot of people at Barca would love to see Neymar back' | Dermot Corrigan

Speaking to Off The Ball  ESPN's Madrid correspondent Dermot Corrigan said there are plenty of people at Barca who would welcome Neymar back.

“With the idea of them signing Neymar, there are a lot of people at the Camp Nou that would love to see him back, a lot of those right at the top of the club."

"He would be great for his marketing appeal, for his links to the Brazilian market as well which is always so important to Barcelona," Corrigan said.

The problem with signing Neymar is where he would fit into the mix with the likes of Greizmann, Messi, and Suarez already part of their attack.

Corrigan doesn't think it would work with the Brazilian in the team.

"It's going to be very difficult for them to do it and if they do it, it would be difficult picking the team."

“Greizmann made his debut over in Japan last week but Messi wasn’t back because he’s still coming back after the Copa America. So how the two of them are going to fit together remains to be seen.”

“Luis Suarez is getting on a good bit, he’s had a lot of injury worries and miles on the clock, but he won’t like sitting out either," Corrigan stated.

The bigger problem for Barcelona this season is getting over their crushing semi-final second-leg defeat to Liverpool. Corrigan said it's had a real impact on Barca's star man.

“For Messi getting knocked out of the Champions League so many times has really hurt him. Twelve months previous when they went out to Roma, it just hungover their whole season."

“It’s going to be even worse this year after Liverpool, it’s something they have to put behind them either by coming through a difficult second leg or by winning the Champions League itself," Corrigan said.

It's not just solely on the players though as Ernesto Valverde was at the helm for both of Barca's Champions League disappointments.

“Valverde is still there I thought he wasn’t going to survive because he was the coach for both of those awful second leg collapses."

"He has survived and he’s still there and until he can oversee a big second leg away win or he wins the Champions League that’s going to be what people remember him for," Corrigan said.

Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!

Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.