Is Neymar going to leave PSG this summer?

PSG are set for an overhaul in the aftermath of Kylian Mbappé's multi-million contract renewal, which will require the Parc des Princes hierarchy not only to offload players but also to reconsider their wage structure in the immediate future. Mbappé will become by far the club’s highest paid player after signing a three-year deal and the original PSG galactico, Neymar, may well find himself playing the fall guy as Nasser Al-Khelaifi looks to the future. The Brazilian was signed for a world record fee of €222 million in 2017 with a view to delivering the Champions League to Paris, but PSG have since managed to reach the final only once, losing to Bayern Munich in 2020. With Mbappé now signed on for another three years and Leo Messi added to the squad last summer, reports in France suggest Neymar may be asked to make way.

Neymar: “It is absolutely certain that I want to stay at PSG”

The problem for PSG is that - ironically after the Brazilian spent much of his first two seasons in Paris agitating for a move back to Barcelona – Neymar is happy in Paris and has no intention of leaving. “It is absolutely certain that I want to stay at PSG,” he told OhMyGoal. “Nobody has said anything to me about it. As far as I am concerned, it’s clear that I want to stay here in Paris.”

Neymar has often been the stick with which PSG fans have beaten the club after European failures and the Brazilian has suffered a string of injuries that have ruled him out of key games at crunch moments during the club’s recent Champions League campaigns. While his numbers in Paris have been in line with the status he enjoys – 100 goals in 144 appearances – Neymar has not yet managed to make the difference on the grandest stage of them all, where Mbappé has flourished, setting records for his age across the competition.

The list of destinations likely to be interested in the 30-year-old Brazil captain is short, given his injury history and the wages he is likely to command, but the recently approved $5.35 billion takeover of Chelsea by US billionaire Todd Boehly has led to speculation of a bid to bring the superstar to Stamford Bridge. Newcastle are also in the market for a statement signing and have been credited with an interest, while Barça are never far from rumours of an attempt to bring him back to Camp Nou, even if the Liga side’s financial situation makes that unlikely.

Serie A remains an option, while even Real Madrid may be interested if Neymar was to become available, having missed out on Mbappé and Erling Haaland already this summer.