Report: Neymar Move to Barcelona Increasingly Unlikely; PSG Unwilling to Budge on Valuation
A new report from France suggests that Neymar's immediate future looks more likely to be at Paris Saint-Germain, as the French club refuse to budge on their demands.
Neymar has made it abundantly clear this summer that he wants out of the Ligue 1 side, after failing to achieve the targets he set himself when he made his world-record move to the French Champions from La Blaugrana in 2017.
Meetings with sporting director Leonardo have acted as the foundation from which he's expressed his desire to return to La Liga, with the French club's hierarchy open to selling the forward if their demands are met.
However, despite Barcelona's best efforts to avoid dishing out a similar fee to what they received by offering player-plus-cash deals, the French side are adamant they want to recuperate near the £200m they paid for the Brazilian.
That's according to L'Equipe, via Mundo Deportivo, who also claim PSG weren't interested in Barça's previous offer of Ivan Rakitic, Philippe Coutinho and €40m - with cash the deciding factor in any deal.
With that in mind, it also rules out a potential swap deal involving Gareth Bale, to see Neymar move to Real Madrid, although any such suggestions that this was a possibility in the first place are farfetched, to say the least.
Instead, the French publication state the most likely outcome by the end of the window is that Neymar will remain with the Ligue 1 giants.
Leonardo would both be willing to see the player leave. However, if no substantial cash offers come in then he expects the 27-year-old to knuckle down and work for the team in a professional manner.
Earlier this month, a report suggested PSG chairman Al-Khelaifi was 'threatening' Neymar with solo training sessions and no football until 2022, in an attempt to curb the star' attitude issues amid the transfer saga.
