Neymar Must Now Rise to Challenge of Equalling Messi with New Barcelona Contract

Big news arrived from Barcelona on Thursday when club president Josep Maria Bartomeu confirmed he expected a new contract for Brazilian forward Neymar to be signed in the coming days.

Sport reported Bartomeu speaking at a club press conference and claiming agreement between all parties, saying:

"

Neymar wants to continue at the club and the club wants him to continue. I don't know if it will be today, tomorrow or the day after, but in the coming days we will confirm his renewal for another five seasons.

He has never said that he wanted to leave the club. The club's lawyers and Neymar are closing the final details [of the contract] over the coming days.

"

It brings an end to a period of uncertainty over Neymar's future, though the likelihood was always that he would remain at the Camp Nou despite earlier talk in Brazilian media of a move to Paris Saint-Germain.

With clarification ahead of next season, and an Olympics tournament in his home nation to look forward to, Neymar must now use his new contract as a springboard toward attaining the greatness that has long been suspected of him and shown in flashes. He must prove he can be as consistently important to Barca as team-mate Lionel Messi has been.

Best of 15-16

Neymar was, at times, out of this world during the course of the 2015-16 season. He scored 31 goals in 49 games over all competitions, helped win another four trophies and showed at least one run of form that marked him out as the most dangerous player on the planet.

There's little question that his finest run of form came when Messi was out injured in the period across October and November. The likes of Rayo Vallecano, Eibar and Villarreal succumbed to his relentless trickery and exploitation of space domestically, while Bayer Leverkusen and BATE suffered a similar fate in Europe.

Neymar scored and set up with almost equal regularity, shouldering the burden of keeping Barca a free-scoring, on-the-front-foot side with impressive ease and immensely impressive determination.

Naturally, such runs of form cannot last indefinitely and it was inevitable that he would drop off at some point. Even so, the two dips in his game over the season were somewhat lower than would have been comfortable, as he went six games without a goal in December and scored only twice in nine games in February and March.

Add in his missed penalties and general over-elaboration in the same period and he cut a frustrating figure at times, before returning to good form as the season closed out and Barca found a winning run again in time to seal the title.

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Neymar ended the season ranked second in B/R's La Liga Top 50 list, a testament to just how impressive he was at times—beating both Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo—but also showing where improvements can yet be made, as Luis Suarez's relentless consistency proved enough to take top spot.

Ballon d'Or form

Better than Messi over the course of a league season is one thing. Joining Messi, or even ousting him as Barca's most important player, is a different matter.

The Argentinian forward has consistently hit incredible heights year after year, scheming and scoring in equal measure to prove his status as either the world's best, or very slightly behind Ronaldo on a year-to-year basis.

Neymar came third in this year's Ballon d'Or race—not necessarily an absolute standard for worldwide opinions, but certainly a marker for it—but was some distance off the top two, despite that run of form at the beginning of the 2015-16 campaign.

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Over the course of the next two or three years, his goal has to be finding consistency in his game that Messi has managed, hitting top form not just for a month or two but for four and five months and, even when not able to be at his very best, still being a decisive presence in Barcelona's attack.

In 2012-13 when Messi netted 60 goals in 50 matches, he found the back of the net in 27 of his 32 La Liga fixtures. Even though he wasn't a 10-out-of-10 performer in every fixture, Messi was always on hand to find a killer touch for his team. That's the type of impact Neymar now needs to look at having over the coming campaigns.

Importance to club and country

Even at his current level, Neymar is clearly a vital part of Barcelona's setup, as well as that of his national team. Captain of Brazil under manager Dunga, Neymar was held back from Copa America duty to be available for the 2016 Rio Olympics. With Dunga no longer in place, it remains to be seen what position and in what system Neymar will operate on home soil, but he'll still be the main threat for the nation.

Neymar is already in the top five for all-time scorers in a Brazil shirt, behind only such legends as Zico, Romario, Ronaldo and Pele. Improving as a player in both relentless consistency and his overall tactical appreciation of space will only accelerate his progress up that chart—and winning major honours at an international level would be a huge achievement, given the stagnation of Brazil of late and lack of overall quality shown in their tournaments.

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Back on the club scene, Messi will—barring a U-turn, at least—be focused only on his Barcelona endeavours, having retired from wearing the No. 10 shirt with Argentina.

That means no long-haul flights for him midseason, the odd week break from action and thus even more energy and preparation time to focus on hitting his best form in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. It's tough to imagine anything other than another upturn in performances and goal returns for Messi in the next year or two.

Neymar has to aspire to keep pace with Messi, not to displace his team-mate but to improve himself, become a better all-around attacker and, yes, fight for individual honours, which will come as a result of the team doing well and continuing to win titles.

He already has an impact on Barcelona's overall running of the club, even at his current level: Denis Suarez will arrive, as a low-cost option to cover the wide areas of the attack, but Nolito has seemingly been passed up by Barca. The Spanish forward plays exclusively from the left side, Neymar's role, and a centre-forward alternative is the more pressing option to look for.

Barcelona's financial situation continues to look a little precarious, with Bartomeu admitting a €60 million budget for the season will only be boosted by player sales, per Sport, with contract renewals such as Neymar's taking precedence.

With the Catalan club wanting to keep their dominance of Spanish football going, without spending hundreds of millions over the summer, it's more important than ever that Neymar produces his best form next campaign. While in the seasons following his new contract, his personal goal must be to reach the same platform of superstardom that Messi has already enjoyed for years.

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