Spanish giants Barcelona has reportedly ended its interest in signing Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar Jr this summer. The Catalans and the Ligue 1 outfit could not reach mutual grounds after weeks of negotiations, causing the former to pull the plug with the closure of the transfer window imminent.
Speculations surrounding Neymar's purported reunion with his former club grew exponentially in recent times amid talks that Barca was readying a mega offer in a bid to convince Les Parisians to let go of the Brazilian. According to claims, the offer submitted by the Camp Nou side included £182 million in cash plus Ivan Rakitic, Jean-Clair Todibo, as well as Ousmane Dembele on a season-long loan.
Earlier on Saturday, French news outlet L'Equipe indicated that Neymar has taken matters into his own hands and was even willing to pay PSG almost £18 million pounds in a bid to force his way out. Nevertheless, the 27-year-old forward has since backed down on his stance and has told his family and club about his intentions to remain in France for another season.
As per ESPN, the deal that would have seen Barcelona taking Neymar back to La Liga partly collapsed as a result of the reluctance of the three players included to move. While an agreement could not been reached, Los Blaugrana is apparently willing to come back knocking for their former star's signature next summer.
On Friday, PSG sporting director Leonardo revealed that his side and the Spanish league champions were indeed worlds apart as far as reaching an agreement is concerned.
"Our position on a potential departure of Neymar is clear, everyone knows what we want," he said, according to ESPN.
"We got a first written offer on 27 August and we refused it, the conditions didn't suit us.
"There are three days until the end of the transfer window, and for the moment, there is no agreement.
"We're talking a lot, with Neymar in particular. He's an extraordinary player, I didn't know him personally before I came back to Paris.
"He has gone through a lot of things, he's a football star today, and I like him a lot. We have a good relationship with him."
