The Best Team, The Best Business
Ronaldo is 25% of Real Madrid. Messi is 30% of Barcelona. Neymar is PSG in continental matches. Yes, when he was unable to play the return leg against Real Madrid in the latest Champions League game, Neymar’s teammate and coaches wrote off their chances. Simply, without Neymar, PSG had no chance. With Neymar, it was also not certain.
Neymar’s key-man risk happens in business. A guy has left and the business is gone. It does not have to be that way. The owners of PSG are learning fast. It is a hopeless strategy to put most of your human capital budget on one guy expecting that glory would come.
But football is very deceptive when you look at the business. The best team in Europe is Monaco in making money even though it is never in Finals and Awards ceremonies. Barcelona has a negative equity. While Arsenal struggles on the field, it makes more money than Man City.
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Except that the owners are rich people [the small change rarely matters], Monaco is a more successful business than Barcelona [2 years running]. But you do not say that to the fans of the game – they want the silverware!
Football is deceptive, but it does offer insights on how to or not to do things in business. Monaco wouldn't have been successful financially, if other big clubs were equally frugal in their spendings; and its success would depend on how many footballing talents it keeps adding to its ranks.
As for PSG, you do not build a great team by throwing money around, team chemistry, spirit and clarity of purpose would bring you closer to your goals than tons of money. Man City is gradually thriving, not because of tons of money, but as a result of having a guy (Guardiola) with clearest and finest ideas when it comes to coaching and playing style.
Sometimes businesses are fixated with the mentality to hire the 'best' talents, without considering how the characteristics of those individuals fit in into the organisation's culture and values. The big guys usually come with lots of baggage, and not every organisation has the capacity to manage their excesses and idiosyncrasies.