Barcelona not giving up on signing Neymar from PSG despite looming deadline

Barcelona, August 30: Barcelona are still open to concluding a deal with Paris Saint-Germain for Neymar, according to club spokesperson Guillermo Amor.

PSG sporting director Leonardo has confirmed Neymar wants to leave the club, two years after he joined from Barca for a world-record fee of €222million.

A return to Barca has been mooted for the Brazil superstar, while La Liga rivals Real Madrid are also reportedly interested.

Time is running out to do a deal for the 27-year-old, though, as the European transfer window closes on Monday (September 2).

Some outlets claimed Barca have reached an agreement with PSG. However, reports in France then suggested this was premature.

Ousmane Dembele is believed to have been offered to PSG as part of the deal, although the forward's agent has said he wants to stay at Camp Nou.

Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic is also reportedly involved in a cash-plus-players transfer, but further complicating matters is PSG needing to secure a replacement for Neymar.

While Amor was unwilling to give details about the ongoing talks, he hinted Barca will keep the door open for Neymar to come back for as long as possible.

"It's a topic it's not good to talk about," Amor said to Movistar.

"There is nothing to be commented on. We'll see [what happens] until Tuesday."

👋 See you at Camp Nou in the @ChampionsLeague group stage!
🙌 Let's hope they are great matches ⚽

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— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 29, 2019

Amor was speaking to the media after Thursday's Champions League draw, which pitted Barca against Dembele's old club Borussia Dortmund, who now have Paco Alcacer in attack, as well as Inter and Slavia Prague.

European success will be demanded of Ernesto Valverde's side after two successive frustrating campaigns since he took charge, with Barca throwing away a 3-0 lead against Liverpool in the semi-finals last term.

"It is a strong group. I have always had a lot of respect for Slavia. It is a powerful group," Amor added.

"In the end it depends on how you get there. We really want to face it, we will go for this competition again.

"We have the experience from last year and the others, we will have a lot of concentration and mentally we will be strong."