What’s the story?
Paris Saint-Germain fans made their voices heard during the club's Ligue 1 opener against Nîmes Olympique at the Parc des Princes on Sunday. The PSG faithful chanted abusive words towards Neymar, who played no part in the match.
In case you didn’t know...
It is no longer news that Neymar is trying to engineer a move out of PSG. The Brazilian superstar’s career graph has witnessed a downward movement since moving to the French giants from Barcelona in a world record €222 million deal in the summer of 2017.
With his heart set on a possible exit from PSG, with Barcelona and Real Madrid credited with showing interest in him, Neymar has made a series controversial comments over the last month or so, which has certainly sparked outrage among the PSG supporters. A month ago, when asked to describe about his favorite moment as a football player, Neymar surprisingly chose Barcelona’s famous “La Remontada” against PSG in the 2016-17 Champions League.
Meanwhile, PSG were off to a perfect start in the absence of Neymar on Sunday as they hammered Nîmes Olympique 3-0. Edinson Cavani gave the Parisians a first-half lead after converting a spot-kick in the 24th minute. Last season’s top goalscorer in Ligue 1, Kylian Mbappe doubled PSG's lead, following a pin-point cut-back from Juan Bernat. Angel Di Maria put the final nail in the coffin and scored PSG's third and final goal in the 69th minute.
The heart of the matter
Videos of the fans chanting abusive words against Neymar emerged after PSG’s victory last night. Chants of “Neymar, son of a b****” were heard at the Parc des Princes during the game as the Brazilian was absent from the squad.
Besides, several banners with messages such as, "Neymar Casse toi" ("Neymar get lost") and "Se faire taper par une pute n'arrive pas qu'en remontada tu t'en souviens?" ("Being hit by a prostitute doesn't only happen during a comeback, do you remember?"), could be seen in the stands of the Parc des Princes.
What’s next?
With Neymar’s future still uncertain and with several new reports emerging each and every day, it still remains to be seen where the Brazilian will ply his trade after the closure of the summer transfer window.