Lionel Messi has never hidden his admiration for Neymar. Even after the Brazilian’s departure to Paris Saint Germain last summer, which broke up the iconic MSN trio completed by Luis Suarez, the Argentine star has always been complimentary of his former teammate and has continually expressed his hope that one day the young forward will make his way back to the Nou Camp.
“I’d like it if he came back. I’d be delighted” Messi confirmed. “Neymar is an exceptional player and it’d be very good if he came back but I don’t believe that it will happen, it’s very difficult. To have Neymar with us one more time would be fantastic, I stress that it would delight me” he went on.
Understandably though, the question of whether or not the current Seleção top scorer will head to Real Madrid provides a touchy subject. “The truth is that I wouldn’t like that one bit” he replied, before being moved on to his Ballon d’Or rival Cristiano Ronaldo’s possible exit from the Bernabéu, which sources in Portugal have already confirmed. “I don’t know what was going through his head, but I believe that he had reason to say that.” Messi began, in reference to comments made shortly after Los Blancos’ third consecutive Champions League win against Liverpool. “They’re personal decisions and I can’t give my opinion about them” he concluded.
Asked on the chances of his homeland clinching the World Cup in Russia, Messi again played down expectations yet promised a worthy effort. “I’ll say what I’ve always said: we will go to this World Cup with a dream.
With pleasure. We aren’t the favourites, but we train hard and we’re well prepared. Individually, we have good players to compete like for like with any team. We’ll give it our all” it was promised.
