Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

Neymar, Messi reunite amidst Barcelona row

- HT Correspond­ent sportsdesk@hindustant­imes.com

I don’t feel tricked by Neymar. The day I said ‘he stays’ I knew that he was going 100 percent. It was the final shot, He got angry, but we worked it out

The row between Neymar and FC Barcelona after his record transfer to Paris St Germain has intensifie­d in the last couple of days. However, on social media, there is a different picture on the relationsh­ip between Neymar and his former club.

On Tuesday, when the Barcelona board was aiming its guns at Neymar by suing the Brazilian for breach of contract in his move to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) for amounting to USD 10 million, several of the Catalan giant’s players were catching up with the former teammate at Catalonia. Barcelona players such as Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez were among the guests at the birthday party of Neymar’s son Davi Lucca in Catalonia on Tuesday.

Messi put out a photo on Instagram with a hilarious caption that read ‘He’s back’, tagging Pique on the post. Messi’s captioning was spot-on, as it was a ironical yet amusing reply to Pique’s tweet from the days when Barcelona were making desperate efforts to stop Neymar moving to PSG. Neymar moved to PSG in a world record deal of 222 million euros, bringing an end to his stay at Barca and a famous partnershi­p with Messi and Suarez up front.

Interestin­gly, Messi’s post came soon after Barcelona board launched their attack on Neymar, and according to the Daily Mail, the ‘cold war’ between the board and the players has only intensifie­d.

“I don’t feel tricked by Neymar. The day I said ‘he stays’ I knew that he was going 100 percent. It was the final shot,” Pique was quoted as saying by ESPN. “He got angry , but we worked it out. I did it to use my social networks to help Barca and to keep a player who is unique. It was difficult but I tried to help my club.”

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