Neymar tells Paris Saint-Germain he wants to leave Ligue 1 champions this summer
Neymar has informed Paris Saint-Germain that he wants to leave the club this summer.
Ideally, he would like to return to Barcelona but it is difficult to see how they can afford him because of their financial problems.
He has three years left to run on his £25m-a-year contract. There remains a question over whether he is jumping or being pushed.
At 31, he is not thought to be a key player for new head coach Luis Enrique as he builds a new side.
PSG have been open to selling him in order to focus on building a younger, hungrier team.
Neymar is ready to end his stay in Paris
There were discussions with Chelsea in January.
It has been a turbulent summer in Paris with Lionel Messi leaving and the high-profile standoff with Kylian Mbappe.
PSG have declined to comment.
‘PSG want to end Galactico culture’
Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
“Neymar wants to return to Barcelona but right now it’s very difficult to see how they can afford him because of their well-documented financial problems.
“In terms of PSG, the plan is to build a younger, hungrier side made up predominantly of French players. Of course, there are still going to be foreign players signed as well but we’ve seen PSG try to sign Ousmane Dembele – and I think they’re going to do that.
“They’ve been a little bit cute as they’ve triggered a release clause in his contract at Barcelona. Maybe this is a bit tit-for-tat from Barcelona by them saying, ‘you’re taking Dembele off us for just €50m – we’re going to try and destabilise you by trying to sign Neymar’.
“PSG do want to end this Galactico culture. Some people will be saying it really suited the club’s Qatari owners given the Qatar World Cup last December to have had a star-studded side, and now it is over, these players are expendable.
“I am sure that PSG’s future is not based around players like Kylian Mbappe or Neymar. Their future is Dembele, Goncalo Ramos – the Benfica striker they are signing. They want players who are fully committed to PSG. Neymar is seen as the past, not the future.”
Ousmane Dembele signed for Barcelona in 2017
Ousmane Dembele made no secret only a month ago that he was happy at Barcelona, but now he wants to leave for Paris Saint-Germain.
Dembele, who signed for Barca in 2017 from Borussia Dortmund for £135m, was keen to discuss a new contract with the club ahead of his current deal expiring in 2024.
The 26-year-old told Marca in June: “I don’t know why there’s been so much talk about PSG. It must be because I’m French.
“It’s going very well. Barcelona want me to renew until 2027, and my representative will talk to them. I am happy at the team, also at home, in Barcelona. So we’ll see what happens.”
Since, however, Sky Sports News understands there has not been a lot of progress over this extension and, in the meantime, the dynamics at both Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain have shifted.
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