Josep Bartomeu on Neymar's PSG Transfer: 'No Player Is Bigger Than Barcelona'

Barcelona chief Josep Maria Bartomeu has said the club will recover from Neymar's sale as "no player is bigger" than the Blaugrana.

The Brazilian joined Paris Saint-Germain last week for a world-record fee of €222 million (£200 million). Bartomeu said he didn't want Neymar to move on but the sale is far from catastrophic for the Catalan giants, per the club's Twitter account:

Bartomeu also discussed how Barca would look to reinvest the money back into the squad:

For Barcelona the news that Neymar wanted to depart would have been a major surprise. After all, it was only last season the Brazilian committed his future to the club in the form of a long-term deal.

As we can see below, Neymar had previously suggested on numerous occasions that he was happy with life at the Camp Nou:

However, the forward was lured to PSG by the ambition of their project and will now have the platform to prove himself as the best player on the planet. 

That was something he was always going to struggle to do at Barcelona, as Lionel Messi is the indisputable main man in Catalonia. Even so, Neymar is going to be a big loss to the Blaugrana cause.

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The forward was the man who brought effervescence to the Barca attack in recent seasons. He's happy to hug the touchline, burst infield and relentlessly take on defenders. There isn't another player in world football who can do that job as well as the new PSG No. 10.

And while no player will ever be as big as a club as grand as Barcelona, in the immediacy, Neymar's departure will be a concern.

Sports journalist Rafael Hernandez isn't happy with how the club is being run:

Last season some issues did emerge. While the summer of 2016 saw Barca bolster their squad with some acquisitions, they still looked short throughout 2016-17 in key positions.

Indeed, Paco Alcacer struggled to make an impact when handed chances, while Andre Gomes and Denis Suarez were also inconsistent in their outings; Dani Alves proved to be a big loss at right-back, too. It means that the starting XI felt a little stale during the final embers of Luis Enrique's rein, aside from the exceptional front three.

With Neymar gone and Andres Iniesta a year older, the XI looks considerably weaker on the cusp of this season.

As noted by Sport Witness earlier in the summer, the club also seems to be losing its identity in terms of youth development:

Factor in the dominance of bitter rivals Real Madrid, who have won the UEFA Champions League in three of the last four seasons, and it seems as though the Blaugrana are lagging behind as things stand.

It means there is a massive onus on Bartomeu to invest the Neymar money wisely, ensure La Masia is producing exciting talent again and keep Barcelona challenging for the major honours in the game.