Barcelona Transfer News: Barca to sell one star player to fund Neymar deal
What’s the rumour?
Barcelona are keen on bringing Neymar back to the Camp Nou, but reports suggest the Catalan club will have to offload of their star players in order to sign the Brazilian superstar.
In case you didn’t know…
Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar left Barcelona in the summer of 2017 in a world record move worth around €222 million.
The 26-year-old joined the Blaugrana from Santos and played there for three years before moving to the Ligue 1. Since his departure, a lot of players have been bought as his replacement but none have managed to fill the void.
Barca are still on the market for quality additions and Neymar’s name has popped up as a possible signing for Ernesto Valverde’s side.
The heart of the matter
One of the players brought in following Neymar’s departure was Philippe Coutinho, who joined from Liverpool for a fee in the region of €140 million.
However, the diminutive playmaker has so far failed to live up to expectation and has often found himself on the Barca bench in recent weeks.
UK tabloid the Standard reports that Barcelona’s interest in Neymar hinges of the club’s ability to ship out Coutinho.
The report claims the former Liverpool star is unhappy at the club and could look to a move elsewhere if his situation does not change by the summer. Meanwhile, it is believed that Barca are willing to sell Coutinho in order to fund the re-signing of Neymar.
It’s too early to say whether Coutinho is a success or failure at Barcelona but it is obvious that the Brazilian is not happy with being left out of the first team.
That, therefore, makes the move for Neymar very likely, especially as the PSG star has never hidden his ambition of one day returning to Barca. But if anything at all, it should be in the summer and not in this transfer window.
What’s next?
Neymar appears settled at PSG currently, but the club’s lack of European success could play a major role on whether he stays or returns to La Liga.
On the contrary, Coutinho has not had a perfect start to his Barca career, but it would be far-fetched to suggest he wants out already. In the meantime, both players are expected to stay at their respective clubs.