Former Barcelona star Neymar is heading to Saudi Arabia, with the club deciding not to bring him back from Paris Saint-Germain.
The Brazil superstar was linked with a return to the Camp Nou after deciding to leave PSG, but a move never materialised, and he is now heading to Al-Hilal.
Fabrizio Romano has now revealed on his YouTube channel that the reason Barcelona did not attempt to bring back their former fan favourite was because manager Xavi had doubts over the player, with the club’s hierarchy actually in favour of a move.
“One of the ideas he (Joan Laporta) had was to bring back Neymar Jr to Barca. Laporta is big fan of Neymar Jr, and all the people in the club this summer had the same idea: Mateu Alemany, Rafa Yuste and also Deco, all the people in the club with the same message: we want Neymar back,” he stated.
“So that was a concrete possibility for Barcelona to bring Neymar back, but the deal was never done or close to being done or that advanced for one reason. And of course the financial situation of Barcelona is not helping, so to complete the deal with PSG by not paying any fee, was something very complicated, and that was one of the reasons, but the main reason of this decision is the manager.
“Xavi Hernandez was not convinced about this possibility, from what I’m hearing to proceed with Neymar Jr.”
Should Barcelona have signed Neymar?
Given that the doubts came from Xavi himself, Barcelona backing their manager’s decision is the right move. With the heavy financial cost of bringing Neymar in, signing a player whom Xavi had no intention to bring in will have been counterproductive.
Neymar’s contract at Al-Hilal will run for two years. Once that runs out, the possibility of him returning to Barcelona at that point cannot be ruled out, but if Xavi is still manager at that point, then it feels unlikely.
The attacker’s injury record has been poor at PSG, and he can no longer be relied upon despite his world-class ability. Despite the loss of Ousmane Dembele, Neymar may not be the solution for Xavi’s side going forward.
Xavi having doubts about his former teammate may come as some surprise, given that they won a treble together, but his reservations over a big-money deal for Neymar are justified, and the club were better off avoiding such a transfer.