Barcelona boss Valverde plays down Neymar speculation

Barcelona, August 8: Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde played down reports linking Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar with a move to Real Madrid.

Neymar has been widely linked with a return to Camp Nou, but reports on Wednesday (August 7) said Madrid were lining up a move for the Brazil star.

But Valverde dismissed the talk as speculation while saying he was unsure what would happen with Neymar.

"Now it's Madrid and we'll see what happens tomorrow," he told a news conference after Barca's 2-1 friendly win over Napoli.

"Two years ago he was right here and I had to answer questions from many journalists. Now, they ask me again about him.

"It seems that Neymar is following me. We have nothing to say about players who are on other teams."

Neymar seems set to leave PSG after just two seasons, during which he has scored 51 goals in 58 games since his €222million arrival in 2017.