Neymar returned to Paris although he did so without saying anything and in fact, he himself had to show on social media that he had trained. Two years after his arrival,, PSG are unable to sort out yet another complicated situation Neymar has caused.
It is difficult to think in two years, just two years, Neymar has gone from being one of the best signings in recent times to an disaster. There was celebration when he signed for PSG. He left Barcelona and instead of being the second most important player behind Leo Messi, he became the cornerstone of a massive proyect for a team which continues to dream of winning the Champions League.
At the beginning, Neymar was happy. Or at least he seemed to be although his inner circle were quick to say that he realised Paris was not right for him. But he was scoring goals, key in all the highlights packages and he was the leader of the dressing room. But everything changed. He started arguing with Cavani over who should take the penalties, his team have been knocked out of the Champions League early twice and the bursting onto the scene of Mbappe have made everything worse for him.
He started to get injured more than play. He has played just the 58 matches in all competitions in two seasons. He missed out on many matches and he fell out with Al-Khelaifi and coach Tuchel. Neymar, instead of trying to get to full fitness, decided to try and force a move to Barcelona, but he is all on his own.
According to 'Marca', PSG are not even confident that Barca will make a substantial offer for the Brazilian, who sees the Catalan side as his ray of hope so that he can leave. The French club will listen to offers if they come in, but they will never give away for nothing a player who they had to pay 222 million euros for. This could rumble on and on and sometimes things change overnight, but the French side do not want him to become another Rabiot who was isolated from the rest of the team in his last months there.
Josep Maria Bartomeu, the Barca president, has confirmed on more than one occasion that they will not sign Neymar. The Catalans are interested in him, but the enormous asking price makes it virtually impossible. They do not have enough money and they rejected Barca's proposal of a players plus cash deal.
Neymar returned this Monday to Paris, days after PSG issued a statement assuring that he did not turn up for the training on the set day and that he will be punished for it. Despite the fact Neymar's Dad denied it was true. Neymar kept a low profile by staying in the gym and not making a show or issue. It was he himself who had to show he had returned to work.
All this was after Leonardo, the new PSG sporting director laid down the club's rules to Neymar. He met with him and made clear that Barcelona do not have the money to sign him however much agent Pini Zahavi and company insist. Neymar has got three years left on his contract and gradually he is starting to become resigned to the fact that he will have to stay for at least another year. His hopes of returning to Barca have gone up in smoke.
His future could have been cleared up in an interview recorded a few days ago with Neymar, but that tape has reportedly been stolen. He was due to announce key information over his future. For the time being, he will have to continue at PSG doing the best he can for the team.