Barcelona reportedly made contact with Emerson this summer as they lined him up as a potential replacement for Nelson Semedo.
The Catalan giants had a busy summer as they added two marquee signings in the form of Frenkie de Jong and Antonie Griezmann, while Philippe Coutinho among others departed.
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In turn, coach Ernesto Valverde will hope that his squad is stronger than it was last season to ensure that they can compete on multiple fronts moving forward, but they did fail with an apparent priority this past summer.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the reigning La Liga champions were certainly serious about the idea of a swap deal to prise Neymar away from Paris Saint-Germain, so much so that they made contact with Real Betis right-back Emerson twice with a view of signing him to replace Semedo, who was specifically linked with being part of the Neymar swap deal.
Ultimately, those touted moves failed to materialise as the players in question all remain at the clubs that they started the summer at, but it is a significant indication that Barcelona were making their plans to cater for the return of Neymar this summer.
Time will tell whether or not they try again either in January or next summer, but Emerson may well have the chance to seal a move to the Nou Camp, with Mundo Deportivo noting that his move to Spain from Atletico Mineiro was made in conjunction with Barcelona, who have conditions and clauses to potentially sign him in the future.
For now though, Semedo remains at the Nou Camp and he’ll be hoping to prove his worth this season to avoid an exit or even being touted as a possible sweetener in Neymar talks.
