Rodrigo to Atletico, Barcelona officials in Paris to pull off stunning swap deal for Neymar, Messi becomes a huge factor in Neymar deal and more: Transfer Roundup, 13 August 2019

Lionel Messi playing a huge hand in Neymar deal

Barcelona's Neymar deal is close to completion and according to reliable sources, it has a lot to do with how much Lionel Messi wants his old friend back at the Camp Nou. Real Madrid are desperate to pip Barcelona to sign Neymar. However, despite reportedly being in advanced talks earlier, it looks like Barcelona are set to sign him.

Messi does not want Neymar playing for Los Blancos and he made this very clear to the Barcelona top brass. He has also reportedly urged him to return to the Camp Nou. Messi wants to bring the MSN back- the world's most dangerous attacking trio that was nearly unstoppable when Neymar was still at Barcelona.

Messi, Suarez and Neymar share a great friendship off the field as well. As per the report, Messi has quite a role to play when it comes to the club's decisions. And Josep Maria Bartomeu is ready to do everything to make Messi comfortable.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Sripad