Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar made headlines earlier this month when he declared that he wants to reunite with FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi as soon as next season. The two were teammates for four seasons at the Catalan club, and have remained friends since then.
Neymar was quite direct in his declaration about aspiring to once again play with Messi, even if it means bringing the Argentine star to PSG.
“What I want most of all is to play with Messi again, to be able to enjoy him once again on the pitch,” Neymar said. “I want to play with him next year, for sure. We have to do it next season.”
“He can play in my place, I have no problem with that! I will go.”
This, of course, drove up the speculation regarding Messi’s future with Barcelona. He is slated to become a free agent at the end of this season, which will give him the opportunity to sign with any given club on a free transfer deal.
But for Messi, he is not joining Neymar in generating more interest in this potential reunion. The Argentine recently responded to Neymar’s declaration in an interview with La Sexta (via Sport) where he slightly downplayed the comments.
“I don’t know if he said that,” Messi said. “You will have to ask him why he said what he said. We still have the WhatsApp group with Luis Suarez and we speak from time to time.”
Messi also touched on Barcelona’s upcoming UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie against Neymar and PSG later this season. The two sides will meet in the Champions League knockout stage for the fourth time in the last 10 years, but for Messi, he did not want this particular draw.
“We spoke about the draw,” Messi said. “Neither of us wanted to face each other now. They didn’t want Barca, either, because even if we’re not in the best moment we are a team respected because of our history. It will be an even game.”
The tie will be the main event duel of the Champions League round of 16 over this season.
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