A Barca executive who recently resigned from the club made bold predictions that would see Camp Nou welcoming Neymar and team captain Lionel Messi staying in Spain. Emili Rousaud said the Argentine superstar will sign a new deal with Barcelona amid the rising speculations that Messi could leave for Manchester City or Inter Milan.
The former vice-president of the club said there will be a reunion of the South American footballers in the summer. As Barcelona has previously stated, Messi will retire as a Barca player and Rousaud agrees with the assertion.
The exec also believed that after the failure last year to bring Neymar back from Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona will try again and the result will be positive this time.
The Spanish giants have indicated that the Brazilian striker is a priority signing, seen by many as prompted by the recent statement made by Messi. The Argentine called on his club to undertake a mini-rebuild and hire players that can help him win the Champions League again.
Messi made the call as Neymar declared his intention to return to Barcelona and exit from PSG.
"I think it's possible that Neymar could return in the summer. It does not seem to me an impossibility at all," Goal reported Rousaud as saying.
Barcelona's seriousness to hire back the Brazilian appeared to be supported by the reports that the Catalans are raising money to fund the planned acquisitions in the summer. It is believed stars like Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann are on their way out and marked for sale to generate the required funds for the summer shopping of talents.
As for Messi, who on several occasions has made known his displeasure with club officials and some of Barcelona's recent decisions, the Barca exec said he could see the Argentine coming to terms with his issues with the club.
"I think Messi and Barcelona will reach an agreement to renew. To reach an agreement, the two parties must make some kind of concession. But I would be very surprised if this beautiful story could not go on in time," Barca Blaugranes reported Rousaud as saying.
Rousaud hit the headlines recently by claiming corruption is at the center of Barcelona's operations. He insisted that the recent turmoil that hit the club was due to corrupt practices that plagued Camp Nou with some officials gaining undue benefits.
The former executive resigned from the Barcelona board and vowed he will be waging a legal war and identified his particular target as Josep Maria Bartomeu, who currently sits as Barcelona president.
