Paris Saint-Germain have informed former FC Barcelona player Neymar, who has been linked with a return to his former club, that he does not feature in their plans this season.
Both the Brazilian and Marc Verratti were absent from PSG’s most recent training session and were not invited to this week’s media day.
They were instead summoned to meet with new head coach Luis Enrique, who handled Neymar at Barcelona from 2014 to 2017, and sporting director Luis Campos.
During the discussion, the duo apparently warned Neymar and Verratti that the club does not expect them to play in the upcoming season, which begins this weekend. Neymar informed PSG over the weekend of his desire to leave the Qatari-owned club after they activated his €222 million ($244 million) Barca release clause in 2017.
Neymar wants to return to Catalonia, but the Blaugrana’s Financial Fair Play limit concerns and overall economic woes make either purchasing the Santos academy product or taking him on loan and paying his salaries difficult.
Neymar’s asking price is €150 million ($164.7 million), and Forbes estimated his on-field earnings to be $50 million ($55 million) in the most current edition of The World’s Highest-Paid Athletes.
