Neymar close to signing new four-year contract at PSG
Neymar is closing in on a new long-term contract with Paris Saint-Germain, having confirmed earlier this week he is happy at Parc des Princes and wants to stay at the club.
Neymar joined PSG from Barcelona in a controversial world record transfer worth €222m in the summer of 2017, but just two years later he was determined to go back to Camp Nou amid claims that he wanted to reunite with Lionel Messi and regretted ever leaving.
No deal ever materialised at that time, with Barça lacking the financial resources to tempt PSG into selling, nor convincing their own players to move in the opposite direction in a cash-less deal.
Even though it was later rumoured that Barcelona were only going through the motions to appease the various parties, knowing full well a deal wasn’t really possible, Neymar was said to have been so distraught when he learned he wouldn’t be heading back that he cried.
Now, however, things have changed considerably. PSG reached the Champions League final last season, while Barcelona's spiralling debt and Messi's uncertain future makes any potential reunion between the pair vastly more likely to be in Paris.
News on an agreement over a new contract comes from Brazilian journalist Marcelo Bechler, who was a major source of information when Neymar agreed to join PSG in the first place back in 2017.
Bechler says the player is ‘very close’ to signing and it could even be announced this week.
The new contract would be for another four years, taking Neymar, who celebrates his 29th birthday on Friday, well into his 30s by the time it is due to expire. His existing deal ends in 2022.
Earlier this week, Neymar told French broadcaster TF1: “I am happy today. I am truly happy. Things have changed a lot. I can’t exactly explain why. But today, I am feeling good. I have adapted. I am more calm and I am more happy.
“I want to stay at PSG. I also want Kylian [Mbappe] to stay. We want PSG to be a great team. I want to continue to play football and be happy, that is the most important thing.”
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