Barcelona's promise to Neymar in order to stop him signing for Madrid

"Either you come this year or you come next year, that's for sure." ''Mundo Deportivo' claims this is the promise Barcelona made to the Neymar by the club's board in order to avoid his transfer to Real Madrid, which he seemed to seriously consider at one point. 

This was due to his desire to leave France at all costs. The negotiations with Barcelona were bearing fruit, but at very reduced rates and with a lot of irregularity. There were days when the agreement seemed closer and others when the positions moved away.

It was the perfect breeding ground for Florentino Pérez to make his calls. The source claims two people could have made it possible: Wagner Ribeiro and Pini Zahavi. They were key in Real Madrid's attempt to snatch Neymar right when he was about to make a "prodigal son" return. 

There, at the height of the controversial negotiations caused by Nasser Al-Khelaîfi's refusal to let his star leave and Madrid's attempts to break the market, Barça made a promise to Neymar. In case it was impossible to bring him in that summer, the next one, he would 100% become a Barcelona player once again. 

However, it is well known that the failed Neymar transfer did not happen because of a lack of attempts. Neymar even offered to reduce his salary to return to Barcelona in case money was a problem. However, he made it clear that he would like to make better arrangements for future renewals.

Another clue to how convinced the player was of wanting to return was that he also put on the table the option of withdrawing his lawsuit against the club. The objective was none other than to improve relations to build bridges regarding his possible transfer.

This gives a clear perspective for this summer: Barcelona have to try to sign Neymar, not only because they want to, but because they promised him they would. The main obstacle will be the economic one, and if the Barcelona board presided by Bartomeu ran into some trouble when trying to find Martin Braithwaite, signing Neymar again will be yet another odyssey.