BARCELONA plan to bring Neymar back to the Nou Camp by using Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele as bait.
The Brazilian forward, 28, has been open in his desire to return “home” since last summer.
Barcelona could use Coutinho and Dembele as bait to sign Neymar
And Barca want to make his dream a reality – only scuppered by a lack of transfer funds this summer.
Having a budget smaller than Paris Saint-Germain’s valuation of Neymar – around £150million – will force the LaLiga giants to be creative in any potential deal.
Barcelona have a host of players they are looking to offload this summer, including Arturo Vidal and Ivan Rakitic.
Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele are two others – and they could be used in a cash-plus-players deal with PSG to get a deal over the line, according to Mundo Deportivo.
Dembele cost Barcelona £138m in 2018, while Coutinho set the Spaniards back a further £145m.
Those players now are worth around £100m combined after enduring a torrid time in Spain.
But Barca could be willing to take a loss on the two flops in order to shave a huge chunk of their Neymar fee – having sold the ex-Santos star for a world-record £198m in 2017.
PSG could be happy to take a chance on the two hugely talented players, hoping their lack of form is more down to Barcelona’s style rather than their lack of ability.
Coutinho was arguably Liverpool’s best player before his exit, while Dembele set the Bundesliga alight at Borussia Dortmund.
Alternatively for Barcelona, they may choose to keep all deals separate – and sell Coutinho and Dembele individually in a hope they could recoup more that way than via a swap.
Chelsea are said to be leading the race to bring Coutinho back to the Premier League as they plan on spending close to £300m this summer.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
