Barcelona to make official Neymar loan bid this week?

Barcelona are reportedly set to make an official loan offer for unsettled Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar this week.

The future of the 27-year-old in the French capital has been one of the summer's longest-running transfer sagas, with the Brazil international seemingly determined to leave the club who signed him for more than £200m in 2017.

Despite previously seeming to rule out a move for the former Santos man, ESPN now reports that the Catalan giants are to make an offer to sign Neymar on loan for this season with a view to securing a permanent deal in 2020.

This news comes only a week after Thomas Tuchel's side are believed to have dismissed Barcelona's offer of €80m (£73m) plus midfielders Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Rakitic, with the French side believed to want more money and the defender Nelson Semedo instead of Rakitic.

The report also suggests that while Neymar himself still prefers a move back to the Camp Nou, Coutinho joining Bayern Munich on loan could give Real Madrid an advantage in the race to secure the superstar's signature.