Paul Parker: Selfish Neymar and Antoine Griezmann are an embarrassment

Neymar’s record speaks for itself: he’s a baby and he’s a drama queen. He’s everything in life which you don’t like. If I was his next club I’d be very wary because there’s no loyalty in him. It’s all, ‘Me, me, me’. Griezmann has surprised me. He had an opportunity to leave before he stayed. He signed a new contract and now he wants to go this season.

They’re both the same in that sense. Let them go and see what happens to their reputation when they leave. They certainly won’t be trusted. If Neymar goes back to Barcelona, those fans will not really trust him because he might jump out of the trench and do a runner.

It was something that would never cross the minds of players from my time. It’s called a football team. It’s very selfish. You’re embarrassing the football club, you’re letting down your team-mates, people you want to call your friends, people you expect to get you out of trouble when you need it.

What they’ve done won’t cross their minds again, but it’d live in the mind for the right people and they’d be embarrassed for a long time. It’s a growing trend and it stems from the Bosman ruling. Once the money got big, they’re a commodity and they’re the ones with the power to hold clubs to ransom.

The days of saying, ‘You can go sit in the reserves and rot’ are gone because they cost a big fee and the longer they sit rotting, someone will come in and take them on the cheap because you can’t afford to have them rotting there. Football is losing its loyalty.

Diego Simeone knows even he can only go so far. He mostly goes right to the perimeter, knowing how far he can go. When he was a player, he was honest and he played with his heart on his sleeve. It was all about his team and he still thinks in that way, but it’s changed.

Under Sir Alex Ferguson, if someone had done something like that, they would never have played for the club again and he’d go as far as he could to make it difficult for them because they’re embarrassing his football club and letting down his team-mates – that’s two of the biggest crimes in football.

You have to let Pogba and Sanchez go. Pogba’s a definite one. He wants to go – that’s been stated, but the only thing he’s not done is go on strike. You don’t know whether it’s struck him to do that. When people are watching him week-in-week-out they see what I see. You see him sulking.

Sanchez was another massive mistake. It was a ridiculous signing and it was always going to go wrong. He wasn’t needed. But how do you get rid of somebody when they’re carrying so much money in their wage packet? You’d have to supplement them. You might have to give him over 50% of his wages. It’s madness.

Whatever club he goes to next, they’re going to have the same issues as well.