If Madrid wanted Neymar they would have called us - Bordas

FC Barcelona board member Javier Bordas spoke about current affairs at the Catalan club today and had words to say about summer target Nolito and Neymar’s pending contract extension.

As for the club’s hopes of bring in Celta forward Nolito, Bordas said: "If Luis Enrique is hopeful, then so are we. In sporting terms, it interests us for Nolito to join us – the only thing is that we have a debt limit which has stopped us from reaching an agreement with Celta. I hope Celta have a good think about it and consider the offer that we have put forward".

Another hot topic for Barcelona is the plan to extend Neymar’s contract with the club, with reports that Real Madrid are poised to meet the player’s buy-out fee. Bordas said he is not too perturbed by Madrid’s interest. "If Madrid were serious about signing him, they would have put themselves directly in contact with us; that’s the standard parctice in this cases and Madrid do things the right way", he explained. "I think it’s a problem which has been blown up out of all proportion by the press. Neymar’s arrival was very complicated and only happened thanks to Sandro Rosell’s part in negotiations – we’ll always owe him for that. At that moment, it was complicated for us because he had the choice to sign for several different clubs and I think he opted to earn a lot less than he would have elsewhere to come to Barcelona. Now he’s happy and settled here, he’s fully integrated and winning everything; he’s part of the best three-man attack in the history of the game... I’d say it would be difficult to see him leaving, he’s too happy at Barcelona to up and leave. When he first joined, he showed that money is not a motivating factor for him".

As for Neymar’s visit to the capital, he explained: "If he was in Madrid I’m sure he would have had permission from the club. We see that Neymar is very happy at Barcelona and we are sure that he will continue. I’m convinced that he will renew terms with us".