Barcelona and its relationship with their greatest ever player is already heading towards a breakdown and things may get worse going ahead.
Barcelona are actively monitoring the transfer situation and have been doing so since the last couple of months, primarily to land their preferred targets in Lautaro Martinez and Neymar. The biggest catch in both these deals for the Blaugrana is that the duo will cost in excess of 200 million euros, which is the kind of money they don’t have at the moment.
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Inter Milan value Lautaro Martinez at 110 million euros and have also rejected several proposed swap deals from the Catalans, while Paris Saint-Germain, who initially evaluated Neymar’s price tag to be around 200 million euros have curbed it to 165 million euros. The latter is now Barca’s prime target since the former’s negotiations are tasking yet going nowhere.
Don Balon has reported that the Barcelona captain Lionel Messi is in favour of landing the Brazil international. The two share a fantastic relationship on and off the field, plus, there is a wide belief that the PSG winger will be the Argentine superstar’s successor at the club and that returning to the Camp Nou would increment chances of him winning the Ballon d’Or.
However, major developments and financial assessments have suggested that the Blaugrana only have 170 million euros in their transfer kitty. This would mean that spending even 10% less on Neymar as compared to what PSG are demanding at 150 million euros, would see the club left with just 20 million euros in hand and complicate other matters.
The fact that Luis Suarez needs a successor is known to the amateur too and unfortunately, Quique Setien wouldn’t be trusting Antoine Griezmann given how he has been treated since signing with Barcelona. Neymar’s now unlikely transfer not only puts the club’s plans for the near-future in jeopardy, but could be acute ripple effects against the La Liga giants.
Failing to sign Neymar could see Lionel Messi reject a contract renewal next year and that would be massive, considering that the 32 year old has bailed out the team several times over the last few seasons and has been a one-man army at times. Moreover, the ex-Santos winger may not return to the Camp Nou ever again since he is already 28.
Juventus and Manchester United are among the other clubs monitoring him and are willing to match PSG’s demands as well. Real Madrid are also keeping tabs on Neymar, but from a distance since the priority at the Santiago Bernabeu is to bring in a successor for Cristiano Ronaldo in the shape of Kylian Mbappe in 2021.
While losing Neymar to other clubs may not see Barca suffer majorly since there are other options like Jadon Sancho, Mohamed Salah, etcetera, keeping Messi happy at the Camp Nou with a renewed contract might be a difficult ask considering he is not ready to spend the last few years of his career at a poorly-run club and wants some silverware to call it a day.
What do you think happens to Messi’s future in case Neymar is not signed by the board?