sport news Neymar's Barcelona return remains tricky despite Lionel Messi's approval

Neymar's return to Barcelona remains unlikely despite the player being desperate to link up with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez again this summer.

Nasser Al Khelaifi got tough this week telling Neymar that if he wasn't prepared to give everything for the project then he knows where the door is.

There's a toll on that door of course. Neymar doesn't have a release clause but it's understood his contract does allow him to walk away from the club after two seasons for the some amount of money he cost when Paris Saint Germain bought him in 2017.

Neymar's return to Barcelona remains unlikely despite the player being desperate

Neymar's return to Barcelona remains unlikely despite the player being desperate 

The Brazilian wants to link up with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez once again this summer

The Brazilian wants to link up with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez once again this summer

As things stand Barcelona do not have that £198million to buy back the player they sold two years ago, and Real Madrid even less so. 

There is also no way either club could pay his £31m net wages.

Neymar's enduring friendship with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez – who recently called him the second best player in the world – are his Barcelona lifeline. 

If Messi's fondness for his former team-mate extended to him asking the club to resign Neymar then that would carry huge weight. But Messi's interventions in the club's decision are infrequent and so far this has not been one of those incidences.

On an institutional level Barcelona are still involved in a court case with Neymar over a claim by Brazilian investment fund DIS that they were paid less than they were entitled to because they owned a percentage of Neymar's player rights when he switched to the Nou Camp.

But claims that PSG and Barcelona are in advanced discussions to send Neymar back from where he came appear wide of the mark – lines of communication between the clubs are almost non-existent. 

Neymar's enduring friendship with Suarez and Messi are his Barcelona lifeline

Neymar's enduring friendship with Suarez and Messi are his Barcelona lifeline

There is still bad feeling over PSG paying Neymar's buy-out clause and there has been no business done between the two clubs since.

For coach Ernesto Valverde Neymar's return would offer as many complications as solutions. He appears to be within days of getting the player he originally asked the club to sign when Neymar was sold. 

If, as expected, Antoine Griezmann signs on July 1 then Valverde will have his front three for next season sorted. He never really wanted Ousmane Dembele and much less Philippe Coutinho. 

Neymar joining would create a ridiculous situation of six players for three positions – and one that would be totally

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