Madrid ‘closer’ to Neymar than Barça

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Is Neymar on his way to the Spanish capital?

The Neymar rumors are starting to really heat up once again after pretty much dying for a week or two, especially after Real Madrid joined Barcelona in the race to sign the Brazilian superstar. And apparently they’ve not only joined the race, but are in the lead.

That’s according to a report from Le Parisien, which says Los Blancos are in serious talks and closer to a deal for Neymar than Barça at the moment. Florentino Pérez is a lot more willing to give PSG’s president Nasser Al-Khelaifi what he wants in comparison to Josep Maria Bartomeu, and PSG are a lot more interested in Madrid’s players than Barça’s.

Gareth Bale, James Rodríguez and Isco are the ones mentioned in the story as players possibly included in a deal for Neymar, and they even talk about Keylor Navas or Thibaut Courtois since PSG no longer have Gianluigi Buffon after the Italian goalkeeper returned to Juventus. All those players interest PSG a lot more than Ivan Rakitic and Philippe Coutinho, the only players Barça would include in a deal for Neymar.

The crucial part here is the money: PSG want at least 200 million euros, which can also include the value of a player they get back, but they want a significant amount of actual money. Madrid are willing to give them that (they reportedly offered 90 million plus Bale back in June), but Barça would only play ball if it’s a straight-up player swap or a loan with option to buy.

It seems like Barça won’t lose sleep over Neymar if they don’t get him, and losing him to their biggest rivals is not something that they worry about either since the fans aren’t exactly excited about Neymar and won’t blame the club for letting him go to Madrid.

There’s a lot that can still happen and this is one report from one Paris-based outlet that obviously wants the best possible deal for PSG, so let’s see what happens next.

Source: barcablaugranes.com