When Arrigo Sacchi speaks, it’s worth a listen, particularly if he’s willing to prognosticate as to how the most celebrated transfer of the summer will do upon his European debut. But contrary to how these quotes were widely packaged, the Milan legend doesn’t do that here. No, he’s not comparing Neymar’s move to Barcelona to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s, a transfer that ended with the Swedish icon moving back to Italy after one season. That’s how Sacchi’s comments are being sold, but that’s just not the case.
Instead, all Sacchi’s is doing is noting there are a wide array of possibilities for Neymar’s immediate future. Because Barcelona are such a style-driven team, it’s possible the young Brazilian could fail to fit in. And if so, then yes, he could end up like Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Or Dmytro Chygrynskiy. Or Alex Song, or any of a number of players that haven’t meld with Barcelona as well as originally expected.
(Also worth noting: Barcelona is not the only club in the world that occasionally fails to see a transfer live up to expectations, though their dogmatic approach does leave them more susceptible to this happening.)
So while there are a number of interpretations online that summarize these quotes with something like ‘Neymar could fail like Ibrahimovic,’ it’s worth noting Sacchi never makes a direct comparison. His words (as complied by Sambafoot):“I don’t know how Neymar will do at Barcelona,” Sacchi was quoted as saying by Marca, as reported on Goal.com.
“At Barca, the style of play is more important than anything else. We will have to wait and see if Neymar fits in.
“All I’m saying is that you don’t know how something will pan out. Just look at what happened with Ibrahimovic.
“He had all the talent to play at Barca, yet in the end he did not fit in with the rest of the players.”
We’ve written before about Neymar at Barcelona. It seems like a good fit, though all of Sacchi’s caveats still apply. In addition, with so much talent at the Nou Camp, the margin for error’s even smaller. If you’re not cutting it, there’ll be somebody right behind you.
That said, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Neymar are obviously entirely different players. A number nine, Ibrahimovic was being brought in precisely because he wasn’t a typical Barcelona player. He was somebody that gave Pep Guardiola an option to play a more direct game, when needed. He was always more likely to fall flat than most, if stylistic fit is the biggest barrier.
But his failure in Cataluyna may be more attributable to a personality conflict with his coach and the evolving tactics of the team (Lionel Messi’s move to being a player who plays centrally). Even not being able to drive the cars he wanted seemed to be a big deal to “Ibra”. His was a complex situation, one that transcended mere stylistic concerns.
Neymar’s situation is entirely different. Likely to be played wide left and used as an alternative to what Barcelona tries to accomplish through Messi, his game doesn’t have to be as tightly integrated stylistically to the players who play through the middle. Even if that changes -- if Neymar does find himself playing more and more through the middle -- he possesses more ability to play Barcelona’s style than anybody who’s been brought in, short of Cesc Fabregas and Jordi Alba.
Nobody knows how Neymar will do in Barcelona, so we can all agree with Sacchi’s skepticism. But if stylistic concerns and comparisons to Ibrahimovic are the root of somebody’s concern, they probably shouldn’t be too worried about Neymar’s future with Barça.