By Brian Bariyo Tumuramye
Amid reports linking Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar with a mega-move back to FC Barcelona, the Brazilian has now dropped up a massive bombshell that could unsettle the transfer market.
The 27-year-old is currently sidelined with an injury, but transfer talk around the superstar is heating up, Globo Esporte has claimed that FC Barcelona are willing to offer €100 million (R1.6 billion) plus a player for their former player, who joined PSG for a world record fee of €222 million (R3.6 billion). Blaugrana captain Lionel Messi is reportedly in favour of Neymar’s return, and the skilful winger has now reportedly made his wish clear to PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi. “I do not want to play here (Paris Saint-Germain) anymore, I want to go back to my home, where I should never have left,” he said.
Khelaifi was quite outspoken in a recent interview with France Football, seemingly opening the door for a potential departure for the world’s most expensive player. “I want players that are ready to give everything to defend the honour of our shirt and who sign up to the club’s project,” he said in the interview, “Those who do not want to, or do not understand it, we meet and we speak. There are, of course, contracts to respect, but the priority now is complete commitment to our project. “Nobody forced him (Neymar) to sign here. Nobody pushed him to. He came with a fully understanding of the cause to sign up to a project.” Barcelona, meanwhile, have a reported agreement with Antoine Griezmann once his release clause drops from €200 million (R3.2 billion) to €120 million (R1.9 billion) on 1 July, Atletico Madrid CEO Gil Marin recently claimed that he has known since March that Griezmann will be joining Barcelona. However, the Blaugrana’s dressing room would apparently prefer Neymar to the Frenchman. With Barca’s wage bill already stretched, they are unlikely to be able to afford both Neymar and Griezmann, which means the latter could potentially replace the Brazilian at PSG.
