After confirmation that Neymar’s probable Barcelona transfer has all but collapsed this summer, shocking details have emerged about it.
In the summer of 2017, Neymar completed a blockbuster transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for a reported fee of 222 million euros. The Brazil international’s main reasons for leaving the Blaugrana were to get out of Lionel Messi’s shadow and try winning the Ballon d’Or in France and also to take on a new challenge after winning everything with the Catalans in his four seasons under Tata Martino and Luis Enrique.
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However, two years on, things have not been too good for Neymar in France. He has been overtaken by Kylian Mbappe in terms of scoring and status at the Parc des Princes. Moreover, Neymar has missed the most important parts of each of his two seasons in Paris due to injury and not being available in that phase of the campaign where PSG desperately needed him- the Champions League knockouts.
Neymar’s off-field conduct had him fall in the bad books of Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and ever since the Paris Saint-Germain president announced that he will not entertain celebrity behaviour, it had been clear that the former Santos winger would try to move on from the Ligue 1. Barcelona and Real Madrid were keen on signing him and until late on in the summer’s transfer window, his former club did get close to signing him.
Barcelona were not in a great position financially to bid for Neymar and hence, offered players to Paris Saint-Germain in exchange. However, Thomas Tuchel’s side rejected several of Barca’s offers and was adamant about wanting cash. PSG then went on to slap a price tag of 200 million pounds on Neymar, something that was unaffordable to the Catalans. However, Fox Sports has claimed that the player was willing to pay some of his own money.
Out of the 200 million pounds that were being demanded by Paris Saint-Germain, Neymar was ready to cash out 17.7 million from his own savings. His desperation to leave PSG had reached an unthinkable height and that was noticeable by the fact that he was willing to pay almost one-tenth of his own transfer fee. He is yet to feature for his current employers this season, but with his future all but sorted, he may get back to the field soon.
Do you think Neymar will be a Barca player in the winter’s transfer window?