5 negative effects of Neymar's departure on Barcelona

#2 Difficulty of finding a replacement

Ousmane Dembele was signed to replace Neymar

After the departure of Neymar was succeeded by crisis and the loss of the Spanish Super Cup to Real Madrid, Barcelona knew they were in bigger trouble. The poor performance of the team in the absence of Neymar required that Barcelona sign another world-class player to replace the Brazilian.

Therefore, the Spanish club entered the market desperately looking for a perfect replacement for the winger. This process was very difficult, as every team knew that the Blaugrana had mega money available from the Neymar deal. After some days, Barcelona announced the signing of Borussia Dortmund's Ousmane Dembele for a fee around £105 million. The introduction of the French youngster served as a compensation for the sad Barca fans, who were disheartened by Neymar's decision.

Consequently, it appeared that Ousmane Dembele would be deployed on the right flank and therefore Neymar's position on the left was still left vacant. Thus, Barcelona went back searching and this time it was Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho that seemed to be the perfect man for the job. The Catalans wasted no time in making their intentions known as they started the pursuit immediately.

Barca finally signed Coutinho in the winter

The player also wanted to move to Catalonia and he made his intention clear to Liverpool by handing in a transfer request. Unfortunately, Liverpool rejected two initial bids from the Blaugrana.

Finally, though, the Spanish giants got hold of their man, but it was in the winter that the deal materialized.