Barcelona chief executive officer Oscar Grau revealed that the club "did everything possible" to sign Neymar. But Barca feels that Paris Saint-Germain never wanted to sell the Brazilian star in the first place.
Grau explained that Barcelona was more than willing to re-sign Neymar but PSG did not want to let him go, according to Marca.
"We did everything possible to sign him. We always tried in a viable way because we would have been delighted for him to come," Grau said. "If the parameters we set were met, it was sustainable. We offered alternatives to PSG, who rejected them. They didn't want to do the deal."
In Neymar's four years at the Camp Nou, the Brazilian champ enjoyed great success, earning the Copa del Rey thrice, winning the UEFA Champions League, and two league titles.
Neymar, Luis Suarez, and Lionel Messi also formed a solid partnership in attack before moving to PSG three years ago.
Messi, Suarez and Neymar combined goals over the last three seasons:
2014/15: 122
2015/16: 131
2016/17: 111
End of an era. pic.twitter.com/rPMqydoxVX — Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) August 3, 2017
In an interview with Sport, Messi was quoted saying that he "would have loved to have" Neymar back at Barcelona but he was not sure if the club exhausted all efforts to re-sign him.
Meanwhile, it's known to all that Neymar wanted to leave PSG.
Barcelona's efforts to re-sign Neymar was seen by some futile, and although at some point they were so close to getting the Brazilian back, the French club didn't want anything to do with it.
According to ESPN FC, Barca offered the PSG €190 million, but the French club turned down the bid. Elsewhere, there were also reports that PSG had also rejected an offer £118 million plus Jean-Clair Todibo and Ivan Rakitic on permanent deals plus Ousmane Dembele on a season-long loan.
It is understood that Barca will try to sign Neymar again next year and are "convinced" they will be successful in their next bid.
In the early weeks of the season, Neymar was left out of the PSG squad while his future was being decided on. On Saturday, he made his first appearance for Thomas Tuchel's side.
After a summer of speculations and rumors, Neymar found himself receiving a hostile reception from PSG fans. However, the Brazilian displayed his quality and helped secure the club's win over Strasbourg in Ligue 1.
