Barcelona chief Josep Maria Bartomeu has dismissed the return of Neymar by insisting Ousmane Dembele is superior.
The Brazilian moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 for a record £200 million but speculation has regularly suggested he could rejoin the Blaugrana.
But Bartomeu has cooled talk of a move for Neymar, describing their decision to reinvest the money they received from PSG as a “sporting bet.”
“I won’t say yes or no,” Bartomeu told Cadena SER (via Sport). ”I say that, with their money, Barça made a sporting bet.
“With that money, we went for players like Dembele and [Philippe] Coutinho.
“Dembele is better than Neymar. He’s at Barca and he is better.”
Neymar was left distraught on the touchline as he was forced to watch his side exit the Champions League for a second straight season while injured.
PSG crumbled late on as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side edged into the quarter-finals on away goals, with Neymar posting a furious rant on social media.
“This is a disgrace, they put four people that know nothing about football in charge of looking at the replay for VAR,” he said.
“There is no penalty. How can it be a handball when it hits his back?! Go f**k yourselves!”
It leaves Neymar and PSG with merely Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France to play for.
