Barcelona midfielder Carles Alena hopes that Neymar chooses to return to Camp Nou instead of making a move to Real Madrid.
The Brazilian winger has been strongly linked to a return to La Liga with PSG Sporting Director Leonardo stating that the Ligue 1 giants are in advanced talks over his departure. As quoted by Marca, Leonardo said: “Talks more advanced than before, but there’s no agreement. We will see what happens — everybody needs the future to be resolved.”
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A report from Marca yesterday claimed that Barcelona would sign Neymar only if PSG accepted players in return. Real Madrid are also linked to the 27-year old with a report from Sport a few days back stating that Los Blancos were willing to offer PSG €120million and Luka Modric to land Neymar.
Alena, who played with Neymar at Barca, wants his former team-mate to return to Camp Nou and not move to Madrid. As quoted by Goal, the young midfielder told: “It would hurt if Neymar went to our eternal rival, especially after playing [for Barcelona]. We hope that he comes back. He’s a spectacular player, one of the best in the world.
“If he comes back it would be an amazing signing, it would be an incredible way to close the transfer window. He would make us all better.”
Neymar had a brilliant spell at Barcelona before moving to PSG, netting 105 goals and providing 76 assists in 180 appearances across all competitions. After suffering successive exits in the Champions League despite having a healthy lead after the first leg, the Blaugrana will be more desperate than ever to make sure that they are the ones lifting the trophy in Istanbul next year.
The Catalan club has already made some big signings in Frenkie de Jong and Antoine Griezmann. Having already spent a lot in the transfer window, Barca will need to balance the books. Hence, the best way for the La Liga champs to bring back their former star would be if they offload some of their own players.