THISDAY

No Deal Yet on Neymar, Says Barca

-

Barcelona have denied a deal to seal Neymar’s return to the Nou Camp has been completed.

Sky Italia reported earlier in the day that the big-money move was close to being finalised - however the Spanish champions have insisted a deal is not yet done.

According to Mundo Deportivo, the Catalan giants said the reports were ‘false’ as Barcelona cannot agree to include Ousmane Dembele as part of the deal.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and his PSG counterpar­t Nasser AlKhelaifi are in Monaco for the Champions League group stage draw.

The two clubs had been in long-running talks over the 27-year-old Brazilian, who left Barcelona for Paris in a worldrecor­d £200million deal in 2017.

The Brazil internatio­nal completed training with his team-mates in Paris on Friday.

Neymar looked in good spirits as he ran through a series of drills with compatriot and team-mate Thiago Silva.

With the European transfer window set to close on Monday, PSG had reportedly rejected an offer of £118m, plus Ivan Rakitic, Jean-Clair Todibo and a season-long loan for Dembele.

PSG were holding out for a fee much closer to the £200m they paid, while Barcelona’s rivals Real Madrid were said to be preparing their own big-money offer.

The initial reports suggested, however, believed that the above players - excluding Dembele - formed part of an agreement reached.

Neymar spent four season in Spain, scoring 101 goals in 185 games, before leaving for the Ligue 1 champions.

Despite winning four major titles across two seasons in France, Neymar has reportedly been keen on a departure.

If the deal does go through he will also team up with fellow new-boy Antoine Griezmann who completed a £108million move from Atletico Madrid during the summer.

He will also reunite with Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi, the three having formed a lethal combinatio­n together.

Played together up front, they won two La Liga titles, in 2014 and 2015, as well as the 2015 Champions League.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Nigeria