Report: Joan Laporta tried to re-sign Neymar for Barcelona this summer

It has been a week since the transfer window closed for business, and fans sit back and try to digest everything that went down this summer, with club football taking a break due to the international window.

Barcelona were involved in one of the most shocking transfers of all time ever in the summer gone by, as Lionel Messi called time on his spell at Camp Nou to move to Paris Saint-Germain. The move came about due to the Catalans’ inability to accommodate his contract on their wage bill while complying with La Liga Fair Play rules.

The move brought about a reunion for Messi with former Barcelona teammate and close friend Neymar. However, it could have been a whole different story if the Catalan giants’ president, Joan Laporta, had got his wishes.

According to RAC1, Laporta was keen on re-signing Neymar early in the summer transfer window. The Brazilian has been invariably linked with a return to Camp Nou every transfer window since he made the move to PSG back in 2017.

There were a lot of calls for the club to re-sign the former Santos prodigy under ex-president Josep Maria Bartomeu. And while that did not materialise, there was a chance that it could have under Laporta.

As per the report, the current Barca president sent club reps to Paris to meet with Neymar, who was said to be intent on a return to Catalonia as he wished to play with Messi again.

However, the situation allegedly changed all of a sudden when PSG owners deposited a sum of €20million in the accounts of Neymar’s father. The report does not provide a clear indication of the timeframe when this happened – before or after the Brazilian signed a new contract with Les Parisiens in May.

Neymar, though, did eventually get his wishes of reuniting with Messi, as the Argentine himself ended up moving to France.