Chairman Barca’s bomb remarks. Neymar wants to return this summer and tries to recruit him.
Barcelona Chairman Juan Laporta made a surprising remark on rumors of Neymar’s return.
Global media “EPSN” reported on the 7th (Korea Standard Time), “Chairman Laporta said in the early days of his inauguration that Neymar showed an active attitude toward his return and actually moved to recruit him.”
Neymar left Barcelona ahead of the 2017-18 season to move to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). At that time, it drew a lot of attention with a record high transfer fee of 220 million euros (about 303.6 billion won), and PSG formed a powerful offensive team by recruiting Kylian Mbappe with Neymar to conquer the European stage.
However, the results did not appear immediately. In particular, Neymar suffered from frequent injuries and had to look forward to his team’s defeat at every important moment on the European Champions League stage. However, it eventually paid off in the 2019-20 season. With Neymar’s performance, PSG advanced to the Champions League final for the first time in the club’s history.
Neymar, who was rumored to return to Barcelona, also changed his mind. He aimed to win the Champions League with PSG once again and renewed his contract in May. The contract period is until 2025. Considering Neymar’s age, he intends to play for PSG during his heyday.
In this situation, Chairman Laporta said in an interview with Spain’s “TV3,” “We tried to recruit Neymar. The recruitment of Neymar (in March when he was elected as chairman) was expected to be an interesting contract. “In fact, I got in touch with him, and Neymar was hoping to return to Barcelona,” he claimed.
In addition, Chairman Laporta said, “We interpreted the FFP rules from a different perspective. If we had known all the rules of the Primera Liga, we wouldn’t have made an offer like that. PSG violated all the current FFP-related regulations, he said, noting that the transfer negotiations actually came and went.
However, Neymar’s return did not come true. Barcelona was unable to actively enter the transfer market because it had a debt of 1.35 billion euros (about 1.8615 trillion won) after resigning as chairman Josep Maria Bartomeu. In addition, due to financial problems, Lionel Messi, the core and legend of the team, will be sent off on a free agent.
