Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain held talks on Tuesday to discuss Neymar’s prospective return to Camp Nou.
It didn’t go well.
Ouch! Blunt much! Well, here’s why.
According to ESPN FC, PSG was “unhappy” with the meeting, with clubs some way apart in their evaluation of the player.
The French champions paid a world record 222 million Euros fee for Neymar just two years ago. Understandably they are looking to recoup most of that fee in any potential deal this summer.
PSG, meanwhile, want a sum of around 120 million Euros, Coutinho, and right-back Nelson Semedo.
Barcelona paid 142 million Euros for Coutinho just 19 months ago but the Brazilian has failed to live up to expectations at the Nou Camp. The Brazilian had been pegged to be the perfect Neymar replacement, a move that has proven less productive than anticipated by the powers that be at the Camp Nou.
The next meeting between the club is set to take place on Thursday, the report adds, when Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu and PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi will both attend UEFA’s European Club Association.
However, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez will also be there and could use the occasion to enter talks himself.
There have been reports of the Brazilian ace being linked with the Bernebeu of late but nothing concrete yet. As the curtain draws on the summer transfer window Neymar’s future holds in a delicate balance with him desiring a reunion with the super duo of Lionel Messi and Luiz Suarez at Barcelona and interests from Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid.
With the Spanish La Liga transfer window closing August 31, the clock’s winding down on 27 year old’s dreams of a reunion with his friends or at least a move away from France where the football doesn’t seem to soothe his style. Upon signing for PSG two summers ago, Neymar has had to endure two injury spells. He had, of course, lived to expectations when he’d been fit to play but the superstar has so much to offer than rotten in a league that apparently doesn’t want him.