Gerard Pique Claims Barcelona 'Working Hard' to Bring Neymar Back
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has revealed that he has spoken to former teammate Neymar about a sensational return to Camp Nou for the Brazilian superstar and has confirmed the Catalan club is ‘working very hard’ to complete the sensational transfer.
Neymar controversially turned his back on Barcelona in 2017 when Paris Saint-Germain triggered his €222m buyout clause to utterly shatter the world transfer record. But things have turned sour in France and he is known to be desperate to leave the club.
Barcelona have been the primary suitors, but fierce rivals Real Madrid, a club who have tried to sign Neymar on several occasions in the past, have been heavily linked. Italian champions Juventus have also been mentioned in the gossip columns more than once.
“We have spoken [about a transfer] yeah. But obviously it is a private conversation,” Pique told the Daily Express after competing at a major poker event this week.
“It is pretty difficult to know. I know that the club are working very hard to get him," he added.
“It is not easy; he is not a player of Barcelona right now. I can just say let’s see what happens in the next week. Let’s see if he comes back.”
Pique and Neymar are close and the defender famously tweeted 'He stays' alongside a picture of himself and the Brazilian forward shortly before the 2017 PSG transfer was made official.
Barcelona have until the Spanish transfer window closes on September 2 to wrap things up, but negotiations have been tough and they have been unable to agree a suitable deal with PSG.
All sorts of proposals have been rumored, including various players and fees being offered and asked for by each side. BBC Sport reports that more talks are scheduled for Tuesday.
Real Madrid were rumored to have sent an emissary to Paris last week to start laying the groundwork for an approach of their own. That is despite speculation earlier in the summer suggesting the club had permanently shelved Neymar interest to pursue Kylian Mbappe in 2020.
