Neymar to Barcelona: How will Philippe Coutinho loan and Ousmane Dembele affect the possible transfer?

Not long ago, Barcelona’s plan to bring back Neymar appeared a luxury. Suddenly, signing the Brazilian seems more like a necessity.

Barca have played only one game in 2019-20, but already coach Ernesto Valverde is running out of options for his attacking positions.

Lionel Messi missed the Catalans’ opener at Athletic Club on Friday as he recovers from a calf injury, while Luis Suarez limped off with a similar problem in the 1-0 defeat.

On Monday, Philippe Coutinho then joined Bayern Munich on a season-long loan, which could become permanent next summer, and Ousmane Dembele was ruled out for five weeks with a hamstring problem later in the day.

Earlier in the summer, Malcom was sold to Zenit Saint Petersburg and Valverde is therefore left with a selection headache ahead of Barca’s La Liga game at home to Real Betis on Sunday.

Messi is in line to return, although the Argentine attacker is still not training with his team-mates, and summer signing Antoine Griezmann is guaranteed to start.

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Barcelona confirm latest injury blow for Ousmane Dembele

Rafinha could also start after he came off the bench and was Barca’s best player in Bilbao on Friday, but the Brazilian international has suffered a number of serious injuries in recent seasons and cannot be relied upon to stay fit for an entire campaign.

Valverde also has young striker Carles Perez, while Sergi Roberto and Junior Firpo could potentially be used in advanced roles as well. Alternatively, Valverde could switch to 4-4-2.

But what does all of this mean for Neymar? Barcelona directors travelled to Paris last week to discuss a move for the Brazilian and the Catalan club remain keen on bringing back their former forward.

Coutinho’s departure to Bayern has been seen by some as a blow to those hopes because he was one of the footballers offered by Barcelona in a player-plus-cash deal.

However, removing Coutinho from their wage bill was the real key for Barca and the Catalans are now proposing an initial loan move for Neymar, which would be made permanent next summer.

According to a report from RAC1 on Tuesday, Paris Saint-Germain are not to prepared to accept such a deal and it remains to be seen whether Barca can find a way to complete the deal before the transfer window closes in Europe on September 2.

Meanwhile, Barca are losing patience with Dembele after the French forward did not notify the club of his injury until he had returned from a weekend in France.

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Coutinho hints Barcelona career is over after joining Bayern on loan

The player has claimed he was unaware he was injured until he trained on Monday, but the 22-year-old has had a number of disciplinary problems in his time at Camp Nou and has now been injured in each of his last two competitive games.

Dembele went off after just six minutes of the 2-0 win away to Celta Vigo in May, missing the Catalans’ Champions League final second leg at Anfield against Liverpool and also the Copa del Rey final versus Valencia.

The former Borussia Dortmund winger will now be out for five weeks, Barca announced on Monday, and this latest setback has come at a delicate time for the Blaugrana.

If anything, it has only made their determination to bring back Neymar more intense. They have just under two weeks to get the deal done.

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Read more Barcelona confirm latest injury blow for Ousmane Dembele