Would have loved to have Neymar back, confesses Lionel Messi

Neymar’s arduous transfer saga was arguably one of the most frustrating things that happened since Neymar's transfer saga last summer. The Brazilian, as he has been since his move to PSG, was heavily linked with a move away from France this summer. Sky Sports even reported that he told Paris Saint-Germain he wanted to leave the club although his preferred destination was never revealed. However, with just Barcelona and Real Madrid in the race, no move was ever going to occur.

Both the La Liga giants spent very heavily over the summer window before Neymar decided to leave the Ligue 1 giants, but that did not stop the rumour mill. However, reports have now indicated that a move to Barcelona got very very close to completion, but it eventually collapsed as the Catalan giants could not match PSG’s valuation of the world’s most expensive footballer. They even offered three players plus a cash fee for the Brazilian, but while PSG was keen on the deal, the players included were not.

Now for the first time since then, Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has opened up about all the speculation and confirmed that he would have loved to have his former team-mate back.

“I would have loved to have Neymar back. I understand those people who are against his return and it’s understandable for what happened with ‘Ney’ and the way that he left. But thinking about it on a sporting level, I personally think Neymar is one of the best players in the world and having him in our squad would increase our chances of achieving our objectives,” Messi told Catalan newspaper Sport.

“But, in the end, it didn’t happen and we have to only think about the squad we have and focus on our goals. I don’t know what happened with the board. I know that I spoke with Ney and he told me how things were going. He was desperate to come back. I don’t know if the club really tried or not. What I do know, Neymar was hoping it would happen,” concluded the Argentine.