Barcelona news: Lionel Messi will stop Neymar return in Ousmane Dembele swap – claim

That is the opinion of former Major League Soccer star and ESPN FC pundit Alejandro Moreno.

Neymar has been linked with a return to Barcelona in a potential swap deal with Ousmane Dembele.

The Brazilian superstar initially left the Nou Camp to join Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017 in a world-record £200million deal.

Reports claimed he was not happy at being the supposed understudy to Messi at Barcelona.

And Moreno says it would be the same situation if Neymar returned, so he cannot see it happening.

“Neymar back to Barca?” Moreno said.

“I thought he was leaving Barcelona because this is the opportunity for him to come out of the shadow of Lionel Messi.

“As far as I know Lionel Messi is still in Barcelona and will be there for a long time to come.

“This just doesn’t make any sense, I don’t know how it comes up.”

Dembele has had an up and down season at Barca, scoring some important goals including a late equaliser against Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

But he was also was left out of a squad earlier this month after reportedly missing training.

But Moreno believes he has seen enough of the Frenchman to prove Ernesto Valverde is the right manager for him to progress.

“Ousmane Dembele, from his perspective by the way, I think it’s best he stays at Barcelona,” he continued.

“Valverde seems to have a handle on how to manipulate Dembele into believing and understanding that there is something about discipline, there’s something about behaving off the field and then translating into good results and a good career long term.

“Dembele should stay at Barcelona and Neymar – I have no idea what he’s doing.”