Barcelona deny Contact with Neymar’s Father

Barcelona have denied reports that Neymar’s father has called club president Josep Maria Bartomeu to gauge interest in a return for his son.

Reports have emerged in recent days that the player’s father and agent Neymar Santos Sr. reached out to Bartomeu, with his son hoping to return to Camp Nou.

Neymar moved from Barca to PSG in the summer of 2017 in a world-record €222 million deal.

The Brazil star helped PSG to a domestic treble in 2017-18 but has been consistently followed by reports that he is unhappy in the French capital.

Barca’s great rivals Real Madrid have also been linked with a shock move for the 26-year-old.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Barcelona spokesman Josep Vives denied that any conversations have taken place between Bartomeu and Neymar’s father.

“That’s not correct,” Vives said when asked about the purported phone conversations.

“But we don’t speak about calls or conversations made in the private aspect,” Vives added. “Neymar is a great player but he has a contract with PSG and there’s not anything else to add.

“We never speak about players with a contract with other clubs and Neymar is one of them. He took a legitimate decision to leave, a decision which we didn’t share, and there’s not much more to say.

“He has a contract and many obligations with PSG; we are only thinking about the great players we have right now.”