Neymar Will Not Return To Barca This Summer As PSG Refuse To Consider Selling Up
Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu insists it is impossible for the club to re-sign Neymar this summer.
The Brazilian completed a £198million move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 but has been linked with a return to the Nou Camp, with the Catalans having two bids rejected in 2019.
The striker has won three Ligue 1 titles and is set to play in his first Champions League final for the club on Sunday while Barcelona have failed to reach a final since his departure.
Reports in Spain last week suggested Barca could reignite their attempts to re-sign the 28-year-old, with the club in crisis following their 8-2 defeat by Bayern Munich.
But Bartomeu has now insisted the club have no chance of securing a reunion as PSG are unwilling to part with their star man.
‘Going for a player when the club he is in doesn’t want to sell him is impossible, Bartomeu told Barca TV.
‘Last summer we tried. He is a player who, with the pandemic situation, his club does not put him in the market.
‘It is normal. The big clubs want great players.’
Barca are set for big changes this summer with Ronald Koeman in-line to takeover from the sacked Quique Setien while Lionel Messi’s future remains unclear.
However, Bartomeu remains adamant Messi will stay with the LaLiga side.
‘Koeman will be the new manager and he told me that Messi is a key player for our new project.
‘He has a contract until 2021, I speak a lot with Leo and more regularly with his father.
‘He is number one in the world. There is no doubt that in Koeman’s new project you can count on Messi.’