Neymar has officially left Barcelona, heading off to Paris-Saint Germain for a world record fee of €222 million. The Brazilan will become the best-paid player in the world, too, and (after tax) will net roughly about a euro a second. He'll be about a tenner richer by the time you make the next paragraph. But stay! We have news of his replacement. And it's particularly worth your while hanging around if you're a Liverpool fan.
L'Equipe are tonight reporting that Barcelona have identified Ousmane Dembele of Borussia Dortmund as their preferred replacement for Neymar.
The French outlet claim that Barcelona began making a move for the French attacker a couple of days ago, when it became clear that Neymar would be off to France. Dembele is also coveted by Real Madrid, which might make Barca all the more eager to land him. The L'Equipe report also states that Barca is his "preferred destination".
Barcelona have kept in contact with the player's representatives, and believe that they can encourage him to ensure he leaves the Westfalanstadion, in spite of Dortmund's obvious intentions to hang onto their 20-year-old star.
In terms of the fee involved, L'Equipe reckon it won't be anything below €100 million.
This could be good news for Liverpool, who are currently fretting over the possibility of Phillippe Coutinho leaving the club to join Barcelona. He will miss tomorrow's friendly game with Bilbao in Dublin with a slight niggle, and he will stay on Merseyside with Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana who have both picked up thigh injuries.
The latter's is the most serious, and will miss the first two months of the season.
[L'Equipe]
