Enrique was appointed as the new PSG manager in 2023 and a month later, Neymar was sold to Saudi Pro League giants Al-Hilal for €90 million. The Brazilian, who had joined PSG back in 2017 from Barcelona, was handed a harsh farewell by Enrique himself, who said at that time that it’s good that he is leaving. Campos said to RMC Sport: “Luis Enrique was the first to tell Neymar: ‘It’s good that you’re leaving.’ He told him face to face. Because he thinks about football differently, playing as a team, playing whoever was the best in training during the week.”
The Brazilian won five Ligue 1 titles across his six-year stay in the French capital but despite the presence of him, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, PSG were unable to win the Champions League until after all three were gone. In their first year without any of the star trio, Enrique guided the club to European success as well as a clean sweep of domestic trophies.
After their maiden Champions League title – won with a record 5-0 victory over Inter in the final – PSG are hopeful of maintaining their domestic and continental dominance after taking a new direction with their transfer strategy.
Joining the club in 2022, Campos has spearheaded the change in strategy. He said recently: “We’re going to protect PSG. We always want to play well and win matches. With this policy, everyone understands that the coach doesn’t give priority based on a player’s status or background. It’s not your background that will make you a starter at PSG. That’s our policy.”
He added: “We have a lot more direct play today. We need to get height, a player comfortable on the ball. We need more solutions and variables. The star is the club, it’s the whole squad. That’s what we put in place with the agreement of the management. We don’t rule out recruiting a star, but it’s up to them to adapt to the PSG machine. We’re helping Luis impose this philosophy.”
Neymar is currently playing for his childhood club Santos in the Brasileirao. However, despite being fit enough, he wasn’t named in Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil squad for the September international break.
