Barcelona chief Deco admits they explored re-signing Neymar from PSG.

The Brazilian, who has just suffered an ACL injury, eventually joined Al-Hilal over the summer.

"There were conversations with his agent," recalled Deco to Lance! "This was much more to do with the president, but the truth is that the situation never really presented itself or how it could be done. We have the issue of the Financial Fair Play that conditions what we do a lot, but the situation of Neymar was never concretised.

"The numbers, we know, Neymar had a very high salary, he had offers from clubs in Saudi Arabia. It was very difficult to get Neymar back in the current scenario.

"He is a fantastic player. Obviously, he would fit in at Barcelona, but there was never a real possibility, beyond the desire he had to return from Barcelona."