Paris Saint Germain have issued a statement following Neymar’s stubborn nature for not regrouping with his club teammates for the pre-season.
Neymar has refused to report for the pre-season training as per the schedule. Albeit being notified about the inception of the pre-season camp, the Brazilian failed to turn to pair up with his club teammates. He was urged to step up his rehabilitation process for the ankle injury, which he sustained against Qatar in a friendly, days before the Copa America kicked off.
The 27-year-old cost more than €200 million two years back and has gone on to win back-to-back Ligue 1 titles with the club. Yet, he remains dissatisfied as he is hunting for a move back to Barcelona in the hopes of pairing up with Lionel Messi again.
Once Josep Bartomeu spoke about the player’s desire to return to Nou Camp, but the club does want him because of the driven unprofessional move from Barcelona two years back. In an official statement from the French side’s president, Neymar had asked the club to leave this summer.
A statement from the French champions said: “On Monday 8 July Neymar da Silva Santos Junior was due to return to pre-season activities with the Paris Saint-Germain senior squad. Paris Saint-Germain notes that Neymar Jr was not in attendance at the agreed time and place. This was without the club’s prior authorisation. The club regrets this situation and will therefore take appropriate action.”
Hours after the statement, PSG Sporting Director Leonardo confirmed Neymar’s decision to the press.
“Neymar can leave PSG, if there is an offer that suits everyone,” Leonardo told Le Parisien. “But to date, we do not know if anyone wants to buy him or at what price. All this is not done in a day, that’s for sure.
“It’s clear to everyone [that Neymar wants to leave], but in football, you say one thing today and tomorrow another. It’s amazing but it’s like that.
“We talked with his entourage too. Everyone knows everything. The position is clear for all participants. But one thing is concrete today: he still has three years of contract with us and since we have not received an offer, we cannot discuss anything.”
He added: “PSG wants to rely on players who want to stay and build something big. We do not need players who would do a favour for the club by staying here.”
Although Leonardo confirmed informal talks with Barcelona about a potential deal, he said no offer has been made for the 27-year-old.
“We have not received any offers. But we had, it’s true, very superficial contacts [with Barcelona]. They said they wanted to buy but we were not sellers.
“[Bartomeu] is the one saying it, but we did not see that Barcelona was really in a buyer position.”
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Barcelona will be forced to fork out more than €200 million to land him in the summer.
