Neymar left his heart in Barcelona two years ago, and that's according to Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, who added his former teammate will find his way back to Barca. The reunion is unlikely to happen this year, but Messi has reason to believe his Brazilian pal will once again call Camp Nou home.
In August 2017, Neymar transferred to Paris Saint-Germain in a deal that cost a whopping €222 million. The financial windfall might have been overwhelming, but Messi said the move soon convinced Neymar that he made a mistake.
"I believe Neymar regrets having left. Not long after he left, he realized he had made a mistake, that he had made a bad decision. Knowing him and seeing what's happening, I think that's the case," Messi told the Evening Standard.
Apparently, the Brazilian sent word he wished to rejoin the Catalan club efforts were made to get him back. Unfortunately for Barca, all the offers placed on the table by club officials were rejected by PSG.
Messi said it was tense summer for the team as he himself thought that with Barca frustrated on its move, other teams would make overtures and acquire Neymar from the Paris club.
The specter of the Brazilian moving to a different Spanish club crossed his mind, Messi admitted, and he feared that since Neymar was desperate on getting out of Paris, any other would do.
"I thought at one point in the market that if he didn't come here, he would go to Real Madrid ... Because he really wanted to leave and he had made that known," Messi shared.
It turned out, however, that there will be no moving this 2019 for Neymar, even to Santiago Bernabeu.
Bleacher Report said Barcelona will attempt reacquiring Neymar again, and the club will follow through on this mission as early as next year. And it's not unsurprising why Barca wants Messi and Neymar playing again on the same side - they won multiple titles that were capped by the capture of the 2015 Champions League.
Messi said the door remains ajar for another spell with Neymar at Barca as he stressed that a reunion or anything could not be ruled out in football.
Meanwhile, as Barca holds to the hope that Neymar will be back the soonest, the club tried its luck on a string of replacements to fill the void created by the Brazilian's departure.
The most notable so far is Antoine Griezmann, who came from Atletico Madrid. Griezmann promises to live to expectations, but it will be pressure time for him in the event Barcelona finally succeeds in returning Neymar by next year, added the same Bleacher Report.
