Barcelona team-mate Gerard Pique thinks Brazilian will stay at club

July/26 | pm:1:00 / No Comments 302 views

Barcelona forward Neymar will stay at the club – or at least that is the “intuition” of his team-mate Gerard Pique.

Paris St-Germain have reportedly met the Brazilian’s 222m euro (£199m) release clause.

“From the conversations that I had with him, it’s just my intuition that he’ll stay – other than that obviously I hope that he stays,” said Pique.

Neymar scored twice in Barcelona’s 2-1 friendly win over Juventus on Saturday.

 

After the win, Barca coach Ernesto Valverde reiterated his desire to keep Neymar at the club.

Pique then posted a picture of him and Neymar on Twitter, with the caption ‘Se queda’ (‘He stays’), but has since downplayed the post.

“We were in a relaxed atmosphere with other team-mates when we took that photo, and that’s how that went. But in no way was that anything official.

“Firstly it’s really not my business, and the person who has to decide that is Neymar.”

Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano added that it is the “desire of the entire team” that Neymar remains at the Nou Camp.

“He’s a hugely important player for us, more than just his quality as a soccer player, he has huge value, his personal qualities within the group,” Mascherano said.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid defender Casemiro has responded to the idea of Neymar joining Barca’s rivals.

“Of course here [at Real Madrid] he would be important, but he is at Barcelona and we can’t forget that,” he said.

Neymar joined Barcelona from Santos in 2013 and signed a new five-year contract until 2021 in October.