Neymar deal went sour after Ousmane Dembele refused to leave Barcelona

Last week, it was heavily reported that Neymar’s transfer from PSG to Barcelona is essentially a done deal. PSG was apparently asking €150 million for the Brazilian star, but Barca didn’t have the financial clout to satisfy the deal.

Instead, the club offered defender Jean-Clair Todibo and midfielder Ivan Rakitic in exchange for the star. Additionally, forward Ousmane Dembele was tied to the Neymar deal but only on a season-long loan.

Everything was set in place but eventually fell apart when Dembele put his foot down and said he is not interested in leaving Camp Nou, SI reported. With the trade deadline slated on Sept. 2, there wasn’t enough time to adjust the deal so Neymar will be staying with PSG for another season.

Neymar and his tenure with PSG

The superstar’s two-year tenure with The Red and Blues has been unremarkable so far due to his playstyle and the injury that plagued him last year. He has missed 52 games during his stay with PSG and has reportedly been disruptive on and off the pitch.

Among the rumors surrounding Neymar is his penchant to train as he sees fit, as well as living an extravagant lifestyle, highlighted by his supposed extended birthday bash that lasted for three days. Despite this, however, PSG defender Thiago Silva said that he still wanted the 27-year-old to stay with the club.

Neymar willing to cut down his salary for Barcelona

“I hope that in the end, he will be able to stay with us because he is an incredible guy, an indispensable player for this team but we have to wait for what will happen at the end of the transfer window. Neymar is a key player on this team, and he decides if he’s happy to stay or not,” Silva said.

Neymar has previously expressed his desire to leave PSG and rejoin Barcelona after acrimoniously leaving the club in 2017. There were even reports that he was willing to cut down his salary by 15 million euros to make that transfer possible.

For their part, Barcelona stars Lionel Messi, and Luis Suarez said they wanted to play with their old teammate back, but sadly, that didn’t pan out. Thus, Neymar will have to stay with PSG, essentially wasting another prime year with a team that he appears uninterested in committing.