WHY BARCELONA FAILED IN NEYMAR BID

Neymar has been linked with a return to Barcelona since he left the Spanish La Liga giants for current club Paris Saint Germain (PSG) in 2017 and he could have re-signed for the Catalan giants in 2019 if they met the financial terms proposed for the player by PSG. Both Barcelona and Neymar had been keen on a reunion two years after he left the club controversially but the Spaniards were not able to meet up with the transfer fee demanded by the French champions as pointed out by Javier Bordas,the former Barcelona Vice President.


Javier Bordas was part of the Josep Maria Bartomeu-led board that resigned at the start of this season. He told Diario Sport that Barcelona were just €20m away from re-signing Neymar. According to him, PSG asked for €130m plus Jean-Clair Todibo, OusmaneDembele and Ivan Rakitic but Barcelona were only able to offer €110m plus the trio of OusmaneDembele, Jean-Clair Todibo and Ivan Rakitic.

The ex-Barcelona Vice President also said thatthe club tried to sign KylianMbappe when Neymar left in 2017 and that French World Cup winner Mbappe was delighted to come to Nou Camp. According to him, Barcelona wanted to sign the French duo of KylianMbappe and OusmaneDembele in the summer of 2017 but they had to settle for OusmaneDembele only.

Neymar and Barcelona parted ways four years after joining the Catalans from Santos in his native Brazil. While he was at Barcelona, he formed a lethal front three with Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi. The trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez were instrumental as Barcelona won a fifth European title at the end of the 2014/15 Champions League season. Neymar signed for PSG when they paid the €222m (£200m) release fee in his contract at the Nou Camp.