What would a Neymar return to Barça from Paris Saint-Germain be like?

The hare is out. Paris Saint-Germain want to (and must) do a 'reset' this summer after another European failure. Leo Messi's departure from the Parisian club is a fact. His father Jorge has already told the club that they will not accept the renewal offer and that they will leave the ship commanded by Al-Khelaïfi when the player's contract expires on 30 June. There is no going back now with the whole mess of the suspension of employment and salary for his trip to Saudi Arabia.

Then there is the Neymar issue. In order to wipe the slate clean, according to reports from France, the team managed (for now) by Christophe Galtier would also like to get rid of the Brazilian. His performances have never been as expected in Paris since they made him the biggest signing in the history of football at €222 million back in the summer of 2017. 

PSG, aware that the player has a contract until 2027, would even be willing to sell him in order to carry out a restructuring of the squad. From there, on social media, there is already speculation about what a return of Messi and 'Ney' to Barcelona would look like. A 'memory' of a time when they wreaked havoc alongside Luis Suárez. 

MADNESS

Let's go through all this 'madness' by parts. Because there is no other way to call it in the current context of Barcelona. If it is already an exercise in financial engineering to accommodate a new contract for Messi, imagine a Neymar who, probably, would not be willing to lower his astronomical salary. Messi would give up much of what he earns in Paris. 

But the Brazilian earns €3,675,000 gross per month. And he recently activated the automatic contract extension that allowed him to extend his stay in Paris until 2027. Therefore, the only way for him to land in Barcelona would be for PSG to pay part of his salary. Can you imagine that?

In the very delicate current context, in which Barça have to juggle to reduce the financial fair play and almost certainly sell one or more of their stars, something like this is unthinkable. The priority is to register new deals for Balde and Gavi, which are still on standby. Then there is the Messi issue, for which quite a few circumstances will have to be met. 

But in order to shoehorn in a contract of the magnitude of Ney's, there would have to be such a large number of carambolas and income from departures that it seems like a macro-operation that would be too far-fetched. Then there is the sporting-emotional issue. 

SALIDAS OPUESTAS

In this dimension, a nostalgic return of Messi and Neymar six years later (since they both coincided at Barça) would have its merits. Of course, their departures were diametrically opposed. Just as Messi had to leave totally against his will, due to the economic situation of the club, amid tears in a very sad farewell, Neymar left for the Qatari petrodollars. Without a goodbye, without a gesture towards the Azulgrana fans. Through the back door. 

And, probably, if Barcelona supporters were asked whether or not they would accept his return, it would be a close call. Or it would be 'no'. Nobody doubts the Brazilian's ability, but so many years of being unprofessional in Paris and very irregular sow doubts. Also his age, of course: 31 years old.

In short, just lucubrations right now with very little foundation. The news is that both he and PSG want to go their separate ways, of course.