Neymar looks likely to be the next Barca legend despite off-field stress

Neymar has weathered endless distractions to put himself in line for Barca's throne when Lionel Messi slows down.

Barcelona are fortunate that Neymar is better accustomed to scrutiny than most. An adolescence that included driving Santos to their first Copa Libertadores win in almost 50 years, and at an age when most young people would still be studying, means the forward has long acclimatised to life under an intense spotlight.It is striking to observe how coolly he copes with frantic masses of Brazilian tabloid journalists whenever they crowd around him at a Camp Nou mixed zone, the player now so well adjusted to the fuss that it doesn't even register a reaction. That well-trained capacity to drown out the noise will have proven particularly useful for him since he arrived in Europe; the drawn-out case surrounding his transfer to Barcelona has been a constant backdrop to his time with the Catalans, creating just as many headlines as his on-field success.

With election season in full swing at the Camp Nou, the topic of Neymar's transfer has unsurprisingly been recurring. It is an easy and obvious tool with which to criticise Josep Maria Bartomeu and the previous board. Presidential hopeful Joan Laporta is the latest to try to do so, claiming that the club could end up paying as much as €222 million for the player once legal fees are added on to his original, still contested cost. Hopes of a quiet, post-Copa America period of downtime for the young footballer are well and truly gone, if there ever were any in the first place.

It is a pity that the complexities around Neymar's fee necessarily overshadow what would otherwise have been the real story of his move. Namely, that he is the most natural and most effective signing Barcelona have made in a long time, part of a select few who could handle the challenges of a club like no other. While the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alexis Sanchez and even home-grown Cesc Fabregas all had their struggles trying to settle in Barca's system, performances last season put Neymar's suitability beyond doubt. His part in the club's second-ever treble was one of the utmost importance.