It was considered a modern transfer saga with an extraordinary football tale that will never be forgotten, making headlines across the globe for almost three months. Everything was set to go for the most massive transfer during the summer. Two years after arriving in France from Spain for a whopping £222 million, the 27-year-old Neymar decided its time to move back to Spain. His trusty agent Pini Zahavi, his father, and Neymar himself was convinced that the transfer would take place sooner rather than later.
However, despite being desperate to depart PSG, the superstar from Brazil is still a player for the French football club. Both PSG and Barcelona are frustrated, fans are heartbroken, and the football star is still stuck in France. So how exactly did we manage to get here?

The End of Neymar and the Transfer Saga

There were mainly two incidents that complicated everything for Neymar. On 15 August, Bartomeu had the opportunity to meet with Al-Khelaifi in Liverpool but eventually decided against it at the last minute. Two days after this occurred, Barcelona agreed to load Philippe Coutinho to Bayern Munich, who is a player that PSG was very interested in when it came to the Neymar deal. This created a significant step back in terms of negotiations. On 17 August, Barcelona lost both Dembele and Suarez to injuries and was defeated by Athletic Bilbao.

After the loan offer fell through, Barcelona had to return to the drawing board to come up with a new plan to obtain Neymar. Eric Abidal, the sporting advisor for Barcelona, attempted to convince Dembele to be part of the deal. However, both his agent and the player refused to be part of the negotiations as he wanted to remain at Camp Nou. On 27 August, there was a glimmer of hope as one of the directors informed the media that talks were close to reaching a final verdict. However, on 29 August, a final discussion occurred between the two clubs and at the end, the Catalans wasted loads of energy and time on someone that they could never actually afford.

Will the Neymar Saga Continue in 2020?

As of now, Neymar will be brought back to the PSG first-team squad. He is required to rebuild his relationship with the French football club. Thankfully, he is considered a significant asset for PSG when he plays at his best. It’s mostly down to the player to recover from this drama and to prove that he is still worthy of playing for an elite team like PSG. For the French club, this is a significant plus even to have such a remarkable football star on their side. No one knows if this transfer saga will continue next year. However, with players getting older with each passing year, it makes sense to move this drama over to next year’s transfer window and to wait and see what happens patiently.