According to a Spanish media site, Neymar was given to Barcelona as restitution for the acquisition of Ousmane Dembele.

Dembele is about to join Paris Saint-Germain. They were unable to move quickly enough to trigger his €50 million release clause, but they were still able to reach an agreement for the same price thanks to a “private clause” that effectively served as a one-week extension of the first one.

The Frenchman never once expressed a wish to go, thus Barcelona felt deceived by his decision to leave. The Blaugrana always treated their former record signing with the utmost respect, according to head coach Xavi.

According to reports, this ‘betrayal’ also damaged PSG and Barcelona’s relationship, which was already tense due to rumors that the latter had made an approach for Kylian Mbappe.Barcelona believed that the French club propagated this rumor in an effort to drive Real Madrid into making a move.

READ: PSG to Fire Campos Following Mbappe Contract Scandal

The Parisians reportedly raised the possibility of loaning Neymar back to the Camp Nou during the brief negotiations over the Dembele transfer—Barcelona was virtually forced to accept PSG’s offer.

Neymar not a priority

In any case, SPORT reports that “during the scant discussions that have taken place between the clubs, PSG once again offered the possibility of a loan for Neymar to Barca.”

PSG reportedly wants to get rid of the expensive, injury-prone Brazilian as they look to completely overhaul their team and public image away from the glitz and glamour of previous years, despite the fact that he recently returned to the field with a bang, scoring twice and recording an assist against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

Barcelona, however, declined the opportunity to reacquire Neymar. The aforementioned report claims that “the operation was completely rejected.” Neymar is “unaffordable no matter how much his salary is lowered, and Xavi understands that, for the current project, the Brazilian is not a player who is needed in the dressing room.”