Barcelona Sporting Director Deco has revealed that a deal for Neymar Junior was a preference of Joan Laporta’s last summer, but never really came close to being done.
After Lionel Messi made his mind up to move to Inter Miami this summer, there were rumours that the Blaugrana may turn to Neymar in their efforts to recruit more star quality up front.
However Deco has told Sport that while there were talks, they never really made it past the sounding out phase.
“There were conversations with his manager. This was much more the president, but the truth is that the situation and how it could be done was never really worked out. We have the issue of Financial Fair Play that condition things a lot, but Neymar’s situation was never finalised.”
Rumours circulated that Neymar was willing to play for a fraction of his Paris Saint-Germain salary, and while it might be the case, that impression never reached Deco.
“The numbers, we know, Neymar had a very high salary, he had offers from clubs in Saudi Arabia. It was very difficult to get Neymar back in the current scenario. He is a fantastic player. Obviously, he would fit in at Barcelona, but there was never a real possibility, beyond the desire he had to return from Barcelona.”
Neymar has once again suffered another debilitating injury. Against Uruguay, Neymar was stretchered off, which has been diagnosed as a torn meniscus and torn anterior cruciate ligament injury, requiring surgery and the rest of the season to recover. Neymar has only just gotten started with Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal, but it looks as if fans will have to wait until the second year of his two-year deal in order to get properly acquainted with him.
