PSG boss Thomas Tuchel says he knew Neymar’s final decision over a month back.
Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar reportedly wants to leave the club and arrived in Paris on Monday, a week later than he was supposed to, and reportedly held crunch talks with sporting director Leonardo where he reaffirmed the fact that he wanted to leave the club. Now, PSG coach Thomas Tuchel has said that he was aware that the Brazilian forward wants to leave the club.
Les Rouge et Bleu traveled to Dresden, Germany where they played their first pre-season game against Dynamo Dresden. Tuchel’s men won the game 1-6 with Kylian Mbappe scoring a brace. After the win, Tuchel spoke to RMC, where he said that he knew Neymar wanted to leave the club before the start of the Copa America in Brazil. The German tactician also confirmed the fact that Neymar conveyed his intention to leave the club after holding talks with the clubs sporting director.
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Thomas Tuchel had the following to say :
"“I am always disappointed when a player turns up late. But it is clear between us, now it is between the club and Ney. We work together. Did I know he wanted to leave? Yes, I found out before the Copa America. But it is something between the club and Ney.”"
Sky reports that PSG has nevertheless tried to convince Neymar to change his mind however talks of a potential switch to Barcelona continue to persist. Thomas Tuchel is unsure whether Neymar will remain at the club and has left it up to the player and the board while saying that he is ready for any situation as it is important to be flexible and adapt.
Neymar has made his intentions to leave PSG really clear, by arriving late to the pre-season training and taking a slight dig at PSG in an interview. FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu also had said publicly that the Brazilian wanted to leave PSG but the club didn’t want him to. With the way things have progressed between PSG and Neymar, it seems unlikely he would remain at the club but also there are no offers on the table for the player.
While the odds for Neymar to switch back to Barcelona are high, the club is yet to submit an offer officially for the player and having invested heavily in the summer, activating Antoine Griezmann’s release clause, the club would have to tread carefully and would have to include a player in the deal for Neymar, with reports saying that the Blaugrana are willing to offer Coutinho to PSG.
After two season, Neymar is now looking for a way to exit the Parisian club but finding a way out is not going to be easy for the Brazilian.