Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde says that while talk of Neymar’s return is ‘speculation’, ‘anything can happen in football’.
It was reported on Friday that Paris Saint-Germain were prepared to let Neymar re-join Barca for €220m next summer, and Valverde was unsurprisingly asked about the rumour.
“There are enough incentives for us to play well,” he said at a Press conference for Saturday’s clash with Sevilla in La Liga.
“We’re playing for top spot. There’s many things in this game, which warrant our focus. We’re playing against Sevilla, who were top [before Alaves], and it’s the first time since I’ve been here that we’re not top.
“After that, we’ll face Inter for first place in our Champions League group. We have a nice, intense week ahead of us and we’re eager to tackle it.
“We’ve reviewed the Supercopa, taking into account that Sevilla are in good form and started on a roll because they played very early on.
“For us, the Supercopa is a reference but not entirely because some of their players will be different. We’re ready for whatever they throw at us.
“Oriol Busquets and Chumi, from the B team, have been training with us. Sergio Busquets or a right-back can also play in central defence.
“For now I’m only looking at our B team for reinforcements, although I hope Umtiti comes back soon.
“Pique’s life out of football, such as travelling, doesn’t worry me [referring to his work on revamping the Davis Cup in tennis]. We think he’ll be at 100 percent.
“I coached Neymar for two weeks, any time is good to speculate, but Neymar plays for another team now.
“It’s speculation, we’re not in the market at the moment or looking short term, but anything can happen in football.
“Here we have the idea of solving problems within the dressing room. I’ve talked to Vidal and I won’t disclose what we spoke about.”
