Neymar Junior agent discusses return with Barcelona hierarchy

Less than a year after Neymar Junior left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain, already the first rumours about a return to the Catalan club began appearing. That was back in 2018, and seven years later, through spells at PSG, Al-Hilal and now Santos, the Brazilian superstar still appears to be interested in a return to the Blaugrana.

Neymar was linked with a return to Barcelona the summer Lionel Messi left, and there was even brief talk about a comeback last summer too. As it was, Neymar, on his return from a cruciate ligament injury, terminated his contract with Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, and signed a six-month deal with his first club, Santos.

His aim there is to get back to fitness, but he will again be a free agent in the summer, and Sport say that agent Pini Zahavi has communicated Neymar’s desire to return to Barcelona. Zahavi, who has a strong relationship with President Joan Laporta, explained that Neymar would arrive on a free, and is willing to accept a ‘reasonable’ salary to return to Barcelona.

Currently the sporting department at the club regard Neymar as an option on the table, without being the only one or the primary target. That said, in Barcelona manager Hansi Flick, he has clear opposition. The German manager was against Neymar rejoining the club, and does not want to hear of his return.

Previous reports do note that Neymar has backers in the dressing room, in Lamine Yamal who idolises him, and Raphinha, who shares a dressing room with him for Brazil. Barcelona have also been strongly linked with Liverpool winger Luis Diaz, but with major doubts about how much Barcelona will have to invest next summer, his arrival seems hypothetical currently. The affordable nature of the deal, and Laporta’s constant desire to attract suporters with star signings will no doubt work in the Brazilian’s favour too.