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Barcelona president holds key in potential Paris Saint-Germain deal

By Ernesto Hernandez

President of FC Barcelona Josep Maria Bartomeu (L) and Barcelona's head football coach Ernesto Valverde attend a reception party in Tokyo on July 21, 2019. - Barcelona and Chelsea will play for the Rakuten Cup in Saitama on July 23. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP) (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)
President of FC Barcelona Josep Maria Bartomeu (L) and Barcelona's head football coach Ernesto Valverde attend a reception party in Tokyo on July 21, 2019. - Barcelona and Chelsea will play for the Rakuten Cup in Saitama on July 23. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP) (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images) /
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PSG are not convinced about Barcelona’s interest in Neymar but a gesture from the Barcelona president could go a long way.

The start of the season is edging closer and the rumors swirling between Barcelona and PSG and Neymar persist. It’s been the hottest rumor of the summer with many saying that the Brazilian will somehow find his way back to the Camp Nou. But with the club having invested so much in Antoine Griezmann as well as still having Philppe Coutinho, there is no place for Neymar.

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Despite Neymar being telling those around him that a move should get done and reports that his family was looking for a place in Barcelona, no concrete offer has been made and they are starting to get concerned. When asked about the interest in their player, PSG remain adamant that no concrete offers from anyone have reached the Parisian side. So it is to no surprise that even the Ligue 1 champions are doubtful of the Catalans’ true intentions.

According to Diario Sport, that the intermediaries involved in working out a deal are on “standby” waiting for something to happen.

Sport’s Albert Masnou also writes,

"“The deal is still “alive” but there’s a danger things could die if there’s no significant gesture. In this sense, the same sources all agree that Paris Saint Germain would place a great value on a gesture from Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, in the form of a phone call or a visit, which would not have to be in public.”"

It’s worth pointing that in recent transfer dealings, both Catalan papers stressed Bartomeu’s involvement in getting certain deals done. The two examples being that of Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong, the latter who had everything in place to sign with PSG before Bartomeu intervened.

To PSG, Bartomeu reaching out to them demonstrated that they are serious in their interest and not simply stringing them along as some sort of payback. Recent reports have PSG dropping their demands for Neymar to €180 million instead of the initial €300 million. Still a steep price but a significant drop to what they wanted initially.

As it stands, Barcelona cannot afford to re-sign Neymar unless they sell Coutinho and so far there have been no offers for him. While the price drop works in Barcelona’s favor, it is still a lot of money and the club have to consider possible financial fair play penalties taking into account what they spent not only this season but the past few seasons as well.

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Regardless, the close of the transfer market is coming up soon so both sides are running out of time. Bartomeu has publicly stated several times that they do not plan on buying Neymar and that Ousmane Dembele is a better player than him at the moment. Time will tell whether Bartomeu actually felt that way or it was simply a negotiating tactic.

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