Barcelona forward Neymar could reportedly head straight to France after the club’s pre-season tour is over to complete his move to Paris Saint-Germain.
The Brazilian ace has been heavily linked with a move to join the Ligue 1 giants in recent weeks, despite the best efforts of Barca to dismiss speculation and insist that he isn’t going anywhere.
It all seemingly stems from suggestions that all is not well at the Camp Nou for him, with a desire to step out of Lionel Messi’s shadow one of the strongest theories put forward.
According to Sport, reports in Brazil are claiming that he will not return to Barcelona after the tour of the US, and instead will travel directly to Paris to complete his €222m move, the figure required to meet the release clause in his contract.
Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu has insisted that Neymar isn’t for sale and that no club can afford his release clause without breaking Financial Fair Play regulations so an exit isn’t a possibility.
Nevertheless, the reports refuse to go away and the latest suggestion is that the situation will develop further after Barcelona play their last pre-season friendly in the International Champions Cup against Real Madrid on July 30.
It seems slightly strange though that they would wait until the end of the tour given countless other players around Europe have flown home and on to their next destination already this summer.
If Neymar was realistically on the verge of a move to PSG, the French outfit would surely want the deal done as soon as possible, and so it remains to be seen whether or not the biggest transfer of the summer will happen or not.