Messi's last-ditch effort to convince Neymar to stay
Reports in Spain claim that Lionel Messi made a huge promise to Neymar in an attempt to convine him not to leave Barcelona just weeks before the Brazilian completed his move to PSG.
Spanish publication 'Diario Sport' claims that that Argentine promised to win his team-mate the Ballon d'Or if he remained a Barcelona player.
Messi is alleged to have taken the 25-year-old to one side at the Sheraton Parsippany hotel in New Jersey during the Catalan side's pre-season tour and asked him what it would take to keep him.
Ivan San Antonio, a reported for the aforementioned source, reports that Messi told the Brazilian: ‘What do you want?’ Do you want to be a Ballon d’Or [winner]? I’ll make you the Ballon d’Or.’
Those efforts turned out to be in vain but it shows just how much Barca wanted to keep the player.