Barcelona will only take Neymar back through a swap deal - report

Coutinho, Rakitić, Umtiti, and Dembélé have been mentioned as possible makeweights

“Swap deal or nothing,” is what the cover of Mundo Deportivo says today. They report that Barcelona are only able to bring Neymar back if Paris Saint-Germain accepts a swap deal valued at 170 million euros.

Philippe Coutinho plus one of Ivan Rakitić or Samuel Umtiti, or just Ousmane Dembélé by himself, could be going the other way in this exchange, the report says. Although it goes onto say that at the moment the French winger is “non-transferable.”

Barça are reportedly willing to play the waiting game and see just how poorly the Neymar-PSG relationship deteriorates. They are said to be in a good spot because they are OK not getting Neymar this year, because they are already upgrading the forward line through the signing of Antoine Griezmann.

Neymar himself has three avenues to pursue. One, to up the ante and continue to rebel and push for a move. He could also take a more diplomatic approach and hope he can convince PSG to make a deal on good terms. Lastly, he could give up and accept one more year in Paris.

PSG are rumored to want to recoup the investment they made when they paid 222 million to bring Neymar to Paris. They are said to be willing to accept that value through a player exchange, although final say would be beyond even the club’s president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi. It would ultimately be up to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, who saw Neymar as a strategic signing in the first place, per the report.

Source: barcablaugranes.com