Lionel Messi has confirmed Neymar will leave Barcelona this summer after sharing a tribute to his team-mate on social media.
Neymar returned to Barcelona’s training base on Thursday morning but was only there for 40 minutes to say goodbye to the players and coaching staff before Ernesto Valverde gave him permission to skip training.
The Brazil international has been part of one of the most fearsome tridents in football along with Messi and Luis Suarez in the last few years and the Barcelona No.10 has now wished Neymar the best of luck for the rest of his career.
“It was an enormous pleasure to have shared these years with you Neymar, friend,” Messi wrote on his official Instagram account. “I wish you a lot of luck in the next stage of your life. See you.”
Paris Saint-Germain are now expected to match Neymar’s £193m release clause, despite La Liga’s insistence they will block the transfer, and make the 25-year-old the most expensive player of all-time.
Neymar is desperate to establish himself as one of the best players in football history and realises he will not be able to do that as Messi’s understudy at Barcelona.
The Ligue 1 giants are expected to complete a stunning deal for Neymar by Monday at the latest and have reportedly planned a stunning unveiling for the forward, which will trump the presentation Zlatan Ibrahimovic got five years ago.
Neymar finished last season as the highest WhoScored rated player in Europe’s top five leagues and will now be entirely judged on his success in the Champions League with PSG (8.52).
