Neymar & Dembele’s respective struggles
Following 4 years trophy-laden seasons at the Camp Nou, Brazilian superstar Neymar made the move to French giants PSG in the summer of 2017, for a world-record 222 million Euro fee.
Barcelona quickly moved to replace the Selecao star, snapping up Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund for a fee with the potential to rise to almost 150 million Euro.
However, to say that both moves have since proven somewhat underwhelming would be putting it lightly.
While Neymar has absolutely dazzled when fit and firing at the Parc des Princes, a pair of long-term injury problems have seen the 27-year-old confined to the sidelines when PSG have needed him most in each of his two seasons in Paris.
Neymar during the UEFA Champions League Group C match between Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Dembele, meanwhile, has similarly struggled with his fitness in Catalunya.
After a hugely-disappointing debut campaign with La Liga champions Barca, the Frenchman looked to have finally turned things around towards the end of last year, when he embarked on a scintillating run of form to showcase exactly why the Blaugrana had agreed to splash out such a hefty sum on his signature.
The second-half of the season, though, once again saw Dembele struggle with a number of fitness problems, forcing Ernesto Valverde to make do without the explosive wide-man in both legs of the club’s Champions League semi-final defeat to Liverpool, and the Copa Del Rey final.
Ousmane Dembele during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and CD Leganes. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
Neymar back to the Camp Nou?
As per the aforementioned report from Gerard Romero of RAC1 this evening, though, Barcelona and PSG could be set to cut their losses on their respective attackers this summer, in a high-profile swap deal.
In fact, Romero goes as far as to claim that negotiations over such a transfer are already underway