‘Offered to Alter Our Wage so Neymar Could Return to Barca’: Pique
Gerard Pique and other Barcelona players were willing to sacrifice to get Neymar back to the Catalan club.
Barcelona central defender Gerard Piqué spoke to 'El Larguero' on Spanish radio station Cadena Ser and revealed that the Barca players had tried their best to get Neymar back this summer, with players ready to sacrifice their wage if it meant that the Brazilian winger could come back.
Neymar left the Catalonian club in 2017 for a record transfer to French giants Paris Saint-Germain. He won Ligue 1 Player of the Year in his first season, but has faced injury troubles since. Neymar agreed to stay in PSG for this season after a return to Barcelona fell through.
Pique has been a long term player for Barcelona, rejoining the club in 2008 from Manchester United. Pique is a product of Barcelona’s youth academy ‘La Masia’ and has been a first-team player since his return in 2008.
Pique and Neymar became teammates after Neymar joined Barcelona in 2013. They formed a strong relationship, with Pique even posting a picture on Instagram a week before Neymar’s transfer away from Barcelona with the caption ‘Se queda’ which translates to ‘he stays’.
Speaking about the failed summer transfer for Neymar’s return, Pique said "We didn't stump up money. What we said to the President was whether we could change our contracts because we knew there was a Financial Fair Play issue... so we said to the president, rather than earn something in year one, we could earn it in year two or three or four.”
“Rather than reducing our salary it was about finding a formula so that if the club wanted to sign Ney they could. At the time they thought it was a good idea, but then other problems cropped up".
Pique also said that the door is open for Neymar if he wants to return.
Neymar scored 105 goals in 186 appearances for Barcelona. He won the treble (UEFA Champions League, La Liga and Copa Del Rey) with Barcelona alongside Pique in 2015.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)