Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez Pushing Barcelona To Sign $196M-Worth Star Forward: Report

Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are pushing FC Barcelona to re-sign Neymar this summer, according to transfer expert Duncan Castles.

Before moving to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in 2017, Neymar struck an amazing bond with Messi and Suarez, both on and off the field. The front three formed Barcelona’s legendary "MSN" as the trio scored a tally of 111 goals and produced as many as 51 assists in the 148 matches they played together during Neymar’s stint at Barcelona between 2013 and 2017.

Out of the 111 goals, Neymar scored 20 and enforced 19 assists in 45 games in comparison to Messi (Goals – 52, Assists – 16 and Games – 52) and Suarez (Goals – 37, Assists – 16 and Games – 51). Barca’s "MSN" was one of the best front-lines in Europe and the best in Spain ahead of Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Gareth Bale.

In the middle of 2017’s pre-season, PSG announced they had signed Neymar at a world-record fee of $250 million. Even though the Brazilian has tasted success in France, having won three straight Ligue 1 titles, he has never been content at PSG and has been wanting to return to Barcelona for some time now.

It was recently reported that Neymar has even confided to his close teammates that he wants to go back to the Nou Camp side.

While Barcelona want to have Neymar back too, they are unable to reach an agreement with PSG in Neymar’s transfer. The French side has demanded Barcelona to pay $196 million in cash if they want to re-sign the world’s most expensive player. While the Catalans have offered a few players as a part of the deal in a bid to reduce the transfer fee, PSG have made it clear that they will accept no bargain in this case.

Speaking on the Transfer Window Podcast, Castles has explained that both Messi and Suarez want Neymar back, as they did last summer. Unfortunately, Barcelona was forced to back out because of the same reason, the higher transfer fee.

"There's pressure on them to sign Neymar internally. In the camp, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez would like to see him come back. They pushed for that move last summer,” Castles added.