Ever since Neymar left FC Barcelona for PSG, he has been linked with the Catalan club for almost every ensuing transfer window. This summer was no different, as Blaugranes were deemed to be one of the most likely destinations for the Brazilian as he looked to leave PSG.
However, Neymar has officially been signed by the Saudi side Al-Hilal for €90 million, thus putting an end to the possibility of him joining his former club. The Brazilian will remain with the Saudi side for the upcoming two years.
Deco explains why Barcelona failed to land Neymar
FC Barcelona have officially appointed Deco as their new Sporting Director today, but the Portuguese official has been involved in business operations being undertaken by Barcelona for the last few months as an external advisor. Deco explained why Barcelona missed out on Neymar this summer in an interview with GE Globo:
“Everyone knows that it would’ve been impossible to sign Neymar at the moment given our financial situation. We needed an understanding with PSG or a new formula (loan) with Saudi, which did not happen.”
What next for Barcelona
It was already expected that the Catalans will be crippled by their strained economic conditions and thus struggle to land their desired players in this summer window.
However, Neymar was never a favorite candidate of Xavi to strengthen his squad, as the Barcelona head coach believed that the Brazilian is too controversial and can cause disharmony in the Barcelona dressing room.
However, the club is still looking for an attacking player this summer, and Giovani Lo Celso and Joao Felix are strongly linked with the Catalan club.
But before making an effort to sign one of these two players, Barcelona have to offload some of their attacking players, with the two most sellable assets being identified as Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres.
