After losing for the Champions League, Neymar moves away from PSG and approaches his new club

In Paris Saint Germain you can still feel the splinters of the shock that meant the elimination of the Champions League in the semifinals against Manchester City last Tuesday. The owners of the French club had the great aspiration to remove the thorn in the decisive game that will now have as protagonists the team of Josep Guardiola and Chelsea, which on Wednesday left Real Madrid on the road. That is why they will seek to purify the squad and, although Neymar was in the plans, the Brazilian may not finally continue.

Due to its size, name and current sporting level, it seems more than logical that the directors of the Parisian entity tried to renew the contract of the 29-year-old from São Paulo, who was badly hit after the setback in the Champions League. His link in Parque de los Príncipes expires in the middle of next year and there were advanced talks to extend it until June 2026. However, Ney stopped the dialogue for a specific reason: Barcelona.

In the last few days, some reports have spoken of the imminent formal agreement between Barça and Lionel Messi for the extension of his contract in the Catalan institution. After many twists and turns throughout this season, the Argentine decided to say "yes" to Joan Laporta, the brand new Blaugrana president with whom he has a magnificent relationship. And the culé leadership dome intends to put together an ambitious sports project to keep La Pulga at ease. Neymar would be included in this plan.

As reported by the French media L’Equipe, the Brazilian put a stop to the dialogue to await the movements that Barcelona make in the coming weeks. Neymar and Messi formed a fearsome trident with Luis Suárez at Barça and last year the former Santos expressed his desire to throw back walls on a court with Leo, although at that time the panorama was very different from the current one: it was the Argentine who he had one foot outside of Barça and had been firmly probed by Paris Saint Germain.

PSG and Barcelona want to be champion in their countries

For now, both PSG and Barcelona will have to define their luck in the respective domestic championships in the next three weeks. The Gauls are second to one point behind leaders Lille with three games left and will also play the semi-final of the French Cup against Montpellier next week. The Dutch team Ronald Koeman will receive Atlético Madrid this Saturday with the serious intention of snatching the top of the Spanish league at the Camp Nou (there are two points of difference and Zinedine Zidane's Real is paired with the Catalans).

Manchester City vs PSG: highlights