Barcelona President Bartomeu Says He ‘Won’t Even Try’ to Sign Neymar This Year | OneFootball

Barcelona club president Josep Bartomeu has once again ruled out the possibility of the team exploring a transfer deal for Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar this summer.

The club had sought out to bring Neymar back to the Catalan club last summer but was unsuccessful in its attempt. Over the past couple of weeks, Bartomeu has alluded to in recent interviews of his plans to not move forward with a possible deal for Neymar. But in an exclusive interview with the Spanish-based outlet Sport, he completely ruled out any such deal occurring for the Brazilian superstar this year and explained why the board will not even attempt to jumpstart negotiations with PSG.

“PSG don’t want to sell either, which makes sense as he’s one of the best players in the world,” Bartomeu said. “Last summer we tried really hard but this summer we won’t even try. The club lost €200m between March and June.”

Financial hardships from the recent shutdown in play due to the coronavirus pandemic have become rampant around Europe. Many teams have decided to become more conservative in their transfer plans for the current summer transfer window. Thus, many teams will be forced to explore other options if they wish to pull off a mega transfer deal, such as one for Neymar. Player swap agreements are one solution and Bartomeu explained why these deals may become a preferable option for teams when it comes to crafting together an offer for a high-priced player.

“There will be more swap deals,” Bartomeu said. “All the big European clubs have been impacted by this and we are all working to adapt. This won’t be for just one year, it could be for up to 3-4 years.”

If swap deals do become the norm soon, PSG may have to get creative if it wishes to acquire another top-class talent.

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