Former Barcelona scout Andre Cury has revealed that the Spanish side were only £17m short of re-signing Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar.
Neymar joined PSG from Barcelona for a world-record fee of £192m in August 2017, going on to score 83 goals and register 49 assists in 106 games for the French team.
The 29-year-old had been linked with a move back to the Catalonia side in the summer of 2019, but Barcelona signed French international Antoine Griezmann instead.
Speaking to Marca, Cury revealed that Barcelona were in fact very close to signing both players: "That summer [of 2019] we were very close [to bringing Neymar back to Barcelona], but as Griezmann had already signed, [the club] was already up to its neck financially.
"PSG asked us for €150m (£130m), plus the transfer of [Ivan] Rakitic and [Jean-Clair] Todibo and the loan of [Ousmane] Dembele. The only difference is that Barcelona's representatives offered €130m (£112.6m) instead of €150m.
"Neymar still has five or six years [left] of a very good career. [Lionel] Messi would surely stay [at Barcelona] to relive the magical moments they had together."
During his previous spell with Barcelona, the Brazil international scored 105 goals, adding 76 assists in 186 appearances.
