PSG agrees to let Neymar leave
According to RMC Sport, on August 9, coach Luis Enrique and PSG football adviser Luis Campos met privately with Neymar, Marco Verratti, Hugo Ekitike, Juan Bernat and Renato Sanches. Here, these five players were informed that they could find a new club, because they did not meet the requirements.
During the training session on August 8, Neymar and Verratti were both absent. PSG explained that both players suffered from gastritis. Then one day, the two players came back, but only at the gym.
According to RMC Sport, coach Luis Enrique underestimated Verratti's form. In five pre-season training games, the 30-year-old Italian midfielder played only 118 minutes in total. PSG once wanted to sell Verratti to Al Hilal, but have not received a suitable offer. Meanwhile, Neymar is said to want to return to his old team Barca. The 31-year-old Brazilian striker has only played one match, beating Jeonbuk 3-0 on August 3, after injury surgery in February.
The announcement of the departure of five players is part of a plan to reform the team of new coach Enrique. Before that, PSG had released Sergio Ramos, Lionel Messi, sold Chadaille Bitshiabu and Mauro Icardi. In the opposite direction, the Ligue 1 champions recruited Milan Skriniar, Marco Asensio, Manuel Ugarte, Lee Kang In, Lucas Hernandez, Cher Ndour, Arnau Tenas and Goncalo Ramos. PSG is also about to buy Ousmane Dembele from Barca.
Kylian Mbappe remains the most valuable player who could leave the Parc des Princes this summer. PSG removed Mbappe from the list of Asian tours at the end of July, due to the inability to renew his contract. After returning, the Ligue 1 champion continued to catch the top scorer five seasons before training with the youth team. PSG is setting a price of 200 million USD.
PSG will begin their campaign to defend Ligue 1 with a match against Lorient, on August 12. Coach Enrique started working from the beginning of July. Before that, he led Barca to two La Ligas, three King's Cups and a Champions League. As Spain coach, Enrique reached the semi-finals of Euro 2021 and the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup.
Neymar is Enrique's former student at Barca. In 2017, PSG bought the Brazilian striker for a record $ 263 million. However, Neymar has never regained the form of his time playing for Barca. His best record with PSG is 28 goals in the 2017-2018 season, 11 goals less than the best record at the old team. Neymar won five Ligue 1, three French Cups, two French League Cups and three French Super Cups, but only reached the final of the 2019-2020 Champions League.
