Neymar is close to entering the final 12 months of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain, and although talks of an extension really started to heat up a few months ago, everything has gone a little quite since then.
The Brazilian is yet to put pen to paper on a new deal, leaving some fans sweating over the idea of losing Neymar for cheap this summer.
That fear was the subject of a report from Catalonia-based Diari ARA, who claimed on Saturday that Neymar had paused negotiations over a new deal because he is not confident PSG can grant him his wish of playing alongside Lionel Messi again.
The 29-year-old is said to be hyper-focused on a reunion with his former Barcelona team-mate, but he now feels as though the Argentine will be staying at Camp Nou and is keen to force through a move to join up with Messi again.
The report even goes as far as to state that Neymar has reached out to Barcelona to inform them of his wish in the hope that the Catalan side will try and bring him back this summer.
That was a huge curveball compared to earlier reports on Neymar’s future, and it prompted an investigation from Telefoot.
The French outlet took to Twitter on Sunday to insist that a pre-contract agreement between Neymar and PSG has been in place for weeks and Neymar has agreed to stay in Paris until 2026 on the same salary as he currently earns.
The deal is yet to be signed and made official, but PSG officials are optimistic that things can be finalised soon so they can turn their focus to securing the future of Kylian Mbappe, who is high on Real Madrid‘s radar.
It does seem as though Neymar is inching closer to signing a new contract in Paris, and it’s hard to see him banking on the idea of Barcelona signing him when they’re already the best part of £1bn in debt.
President Joan Laporta has his sights set on Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland, and given the Norwegian’s mammoth price tag of over £150m is well-known, Neymar surely doesn’t expect a return to Barcelona to surface anytime soon.
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