Paris Saint-Germain have rejected a €190 million offer from Barcelona that would see Neymar return to Nou Camp on a loan, sources have told ESPN.
Barca offered an upfront sum of €40m cash with a future obligation of €150m to permanently sign the Brazilian star from the French champions next summer, sources said.
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Sources had told ESPN on Monday that PSG were going to reject the La Liga side's offer whenever it came through, and it appears that has been the case.
PSG's Qatari owners have been disappointed by the attitude of Neymar this summer and are ready to let him leave, but only if they can recoup as much of the €222m they spent to bring him to Paris from Barcelona in the summer of 2017.
There is also the belief in Paris that Barcelona will not be able to pay the transfer fee in one lump sum next summer should they make the move permanent and would ask to pay in annual installments, which is not ideal for the French club.
PSG sporting director Leonardo is trying to get as much money in cash as possible for Neymar, hoping to recoup at least €200m. The situation was further complicated by Philippe Coutinho's loan move to Bayern Munich on Monday, making a potential deal for Neymar harder to pull off as PSG had hoped Coutinho could be a makeweight in some kind of cash-plus-players deal.
Barcelona also facing a shortage of attackers after Ousmane Dembele was ruled out for five weeks on Monday with a hamstring injury. Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are also coming back from distinct calf injuries.
Neymar still wants to leave the Parc des Princes this summer and his preference is to go back to Barcelona where he played between 2013 and 2017.
Sources say Neymar is trying to stay positive but he knows that a deal to see him returning to the Camp Nou is getting more and more difficult.
Neymar, who continues to train on his own away from the first team, has not played in either of PSG's two opening Ligue 1 matches so far this season, with Leonardo saying that he will not be involved until his situation is resolved.
Source: espn.co.uk