BBC Online :
Neymar caused a stir when he said he wants to play with Lionel Messi again next season, moments after helping Paris St-Germain to a 3-1 Champions League win over Manchester United.
“What I want most of all is to play with Messi again, to be able to enjoy him once again on the pitch,” Neymar told ESPN about his former Barcelona team-mate.
“He can play in my place, I have no problem with that! But I want to play with him next year, for sure. We have to do it next season.”
That revelation came as Barcelona interim president Carlos Tusquets said the club should have sold Messi in the summer.
Argentina forward Messi, 33, told Barca he wanted to leave at that time – and said a clause in his contract meant he could do so for free.
Barca said that was not the case and they would not let their all-time leading goalscorer and captain go for less than his 700m euros (£624m) release clause.
His contract expires next summer when he will be free to go.
Josep Maria Bartomeu stepped down as president in October, with Tusquets taking temporary charge until elections in January.
“Economically speaking, I would’ve sold Messi in the summer window,” Tusquets told RAC1 radio station.
“Both in terms of what you save on the wage bill as well as the money you make, it would’ve been desirable. But this is something the coaching staff have to consent to and that’s not my place.”
Messi’s contract expires next summer and Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague, speaking on the BBC Football Daily podcast, says he still wants to leave the club.
Neymar caused a stir when he said he wants to play with Lionel Messi again next season, moments after helping Paris St-Germain to a 3-1 Champions League win over Manchester United.
“What I want most of all is to play with Messi again, to be able to enjoy him once again on the pitch,” Neymar told ESPN about his former Barcelona team-mate.
“He can play in my place, I have no problem with that! But I want to play with him next year, for sure. We have to do it next season.”
That revelation came as Barcelona interim president Carlos Tusquets said the club should have sold Messi in the summer.
Argentina forward Messi, 33, told Barca he wanted to leave at that time – and said a clause in his contract meant he could do so for free.
Barca said that was not the case and they would not let their all-time leading goalscorer and captain go for less than his 700m euros (£624m) release clause.
His contract expires next summer when he will be free to go.
Josep Maria Bartomeu stepped down as president in October, with Tusquets taking temporary charge until elections in January.
“Economically speaking, I would’ve sold Messi in the summer window,” Tusquets told RAC1 radio station.
“Both in terms of what you save on the wage bill as well as the money you make, it would’ve been desirable. But this is something the coaching staff have to consent to and that’s not my place.”
Messi’s contract expires next summer and Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague, speaking on the BBC Football Daily podcast, says he still wants to leave the club.
