Barca president also confirms interest in Ajax's Matthijs de Ligt
Thursday 14 February 2019 17:44, UK
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has ruled out a return for Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil forward Neymar.
Neymar left the Nou Camp for £200m to join PSG in 2017, but has often been linked with a return to his former club.
Bartomeu, speaking to Spanish radio station Radio Kanal Barcelona, said: "I've spoken with Neymar, we've seen each other a few times, but his people have never told me he wants to come back.
"No one's called us about it. Neymar has a contract with PSG. It's his second season there and it's very difficult (to imagine) they want to sell. We didn't want to.
"We have the disadvantage of the (release) clause here. European clubs (can) take advantage of that. That's not the case (in France) so it's not possible for him to return.
"The club's taken another path, with (Ousmane) Dembele, (Philippe) Coutinho. We have to move on with them. They're the two biggest investments in the club's history and we back them 100 per cent."
On Ajax centre-back Matthijs de Ligt, 19, he added: 'We have followed De Ligt for a while. It's true he's a player we like, but Barca also have other important players in the squad.
"We will look at more things from March or April. We're delighted to watch him play and admire him, but there's nothing more at the moment."
