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According to Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona missed out on re-signing Neymar due to Xavi's presence. While the club was keen on bringing the player back, a deal didn't happen.
Barca president Joan Laporta was particularly interested in re-signing the Brazilian. He met with Nasser Al-Khelaifi and financial situations were also sorted out. However, the attacker won't return as long as Xavi is in charge.
Neymar previously spent four seasons at Barcelona, scoring 105 goals and providing 76 assists in 186 matches for the Catalan club. He was teammates with Xavi when Barca won the treble in 2014-15.
However, judging by the latest reports, it can be deduced that the player doesn't have the best relationship with the 2010 FIFA World Cup winner.
The Brazilian has opted to sign for Al-Hilal, penning a two-year deal. He will earn a mega salary of $300 million in two years and the sum could rise up to $400 million, including add-ons.
PSG have a Neymar replacement ready in the form of ex-Barcelona star
PSG have a readymade replacement for Neymar on their hands as Ousmane Dembele has been signed from Barcelona for a transfer fee of €50.4 million in the summer transfer window.
The move came as a surprising one for the Catalan club as Dembele looked set to stay. Speaking on his decision to join the Parisians, the speedster said (quotes as per PSG Report):
“The conversations with the coach. For me, having trust is vital for a footballer. I also spoke with the Sporting Director and the President. I spoke with them and they really explained the project at PSG and I was impressed.”
He added:
“It’s very exciting and I hope that we are going to achieve great things together. I like the way Luis Enrique wants to play. We know it, we know that he is obsessed with possession, we know he likes to play attacking football and that’s a perfect fit for me.”
Dembele, alongside Kylian Mbappe, could form a lethal attacking partnership for the Parisian club. Fans will keep a keen eye on how Luis Enrique lines up his team this season.
