Barca prepare to make official offer to PSG for Neymar (Goal)

The Catalans are hopeful of landing the Brazilian although will need to raise transfer funds and free up their wage budget to help the move along, Barcelona are preparing to begin talks with PSG over the signing of Neymar according to Goal

The Ligue 1 champions have been steadfast over their asking price for the Brazil international and have been sticking to their €222 million (£200m/$249m) valuation of the player they signed from Barca in 2017.

There may well be movement on that price, however, with the 27-year-old keen to make the return to Camp Nou and the Liga giants getting ready to make an official offer in the coming days.

Sources have told Goal that the Ligue 1 side are aware of the player's desire to re-join Barca and the transfer may well have already happened had the potential buying team not been the Catalans.

As a result, PSG will not make it easy for Ernesto Valverde's side to complete a transfer although they will be acutely aware of the negative impact a continued saga will have on the club ahead of the start of the 2019-20 campaign.

To that end, time is running out for Barca to get any potential deal done, with Ligue 1 kicking off on August 9, while the new La Liga season officially gets started a week later, on August 16.

It remains to be seen how negotiations will play out between Barca and PSG as the Parisians remain intent on receiving the maximum possible fee for one of their prized assets.

But with the Catalans making that first move to initiate talks, there may well be movement on the price, especially if the player attempts to further force the issue and his situation at Parc des Princes becomes untenable.