Lionel Messi feared Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar would move to Real Madrid in the summer window if Barcelona failed to land his signature.
The Brazil international made it clear that he wanted to leave Parc des Princes but after a period of intense speculation that stretched throughout the window, he eventually stayed with the Ligue 1 champions.
Barcelona and Real Madrid were heavily linked with the 27-year-old but neither was willing to match the asking price for the prolific frontman.
Messi feared that Madrid, who spent lavishly to sign the likes of Eden Hazard from Chelsea, Luka Jovic from Eintracht Frankfurt and Eder Militao during the window, would swoop in to sign Neymar.
“I honestly thought that in this market, if he did not come here, he would go to Madrid,” Messi told radio station RAC1.
“He was really looking forward to leaving and making a change, and he thought that Florentino Perez and Madrid would do something to sign him.”
Barca may not have Neymar in their ranks, but they do still boast Dembele. The young Frenchman was sent off in the 4-0 victory against Sevilla immediately before the international break after picking up a second yellow card for dissent towards the referee, who claimed the winger told him: “You are very bad.”
Messi, however, has defended the 22-year-old saying: “I told the referee that it’s very difficult for Ousmane to say something like that because it’s hard for him to form sentences [in Spanish],” the Argentine said.
“The coach supported me at a press conference. We were surprised that the referee understood him so clearly because it’s still difficult for him to speak Spanish.”
However, Messi has seen his 2019-20 season hit by injury problems thus far, restricting the five-time Ballon d’Or winner to just five matches and a couple of goals.
But the 32-year-old did win FIFA’s The Best Men’s Player of the Year award at a ceremony in Milan, beating off competition from Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk.
