Transfer Centre

Barcelona 'could never afford Neymar deal'

By Sean Wilson | 03 September 2019

Barcelona will reportedly not be able to sign Neymar until next year as they could not afford the terms they offered, having spent all their money on Antoine Griezmann.

Barcelona were reportedly unable to afford the terms they proposed for Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar.

The La Liga giants attempted to re-sign their former player by offering a €130m (£118.8m) cash sum plus a number of players on either temporary or permanent deals, including Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele, Ivan Rakitic and Samuel Umtiti, but a deal never materialised.

However, according to Marca, the Catalan club could not afford to pay the fee offered except as part of a loan deal with an obligation to buy next summer, a proposal PSG were not keen to accept.

Barca had spent the vast majority of this summer's budget on the purchase of Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid and will not have more funds until the beginning of next season, when they will return for the Brazilian.

Additionally, the players being offered in the swap deal were unimpressed about not being informed and rejected the idea of moving to Paris.