Lionel Messi, captain of the Spanish football team, Spanish champions, confirmed that his former Brazilian teammate Neymar still wanted to return to the Catalan club, and expressed his hope that this would happen and Barcelona would again become a striking force.
But the Argentine star indicated that his team is not strong enough to win the Champions League title at the moment.
Barcelona has vigorously sought to return Neymar, who currently belongs to Paris Saint-Germain, to his squad last year, but the deal has stalled, but Messi says Neymar, 28, is still looking to return to his former club.
"He is very excited to return. He has always expressed his remorse for what happened. He did a lot to get back," the Spanish newspaper "Almondo Deportivo" said in its Thursday edition.
Messi added, "Neymar has always been a first-class player and different from everyone. He is a player whose next move cannot be expected. He beats the players (the competitors) and scores many goals. At the sports level, Neymar is one of the best players in the world and I would like to return."
Neymar has formed a great partnership with Messi and Luis Suarez for three seasons, and they achieved a distinguished trophy of titles in 2015.
During the preparation for the 2017 season, Neymar joined the French champion for 222 million euros ($ 239.60 million), which angered the fans and the rest of the Catalans.
Messi said, "It is normal for the public to feel this (anger) because of the way he left, and I was also angry at the time, and we tried to persuade him not to leave."
"Ultimately, everyone wants to win and get the best players, as well as the fans. As I said before, he is one of the best players on the field and he has given us a lot on the field."
In the race for the domestic title, Barcelona are one point behind leaders Real Madrid. However, Messi is concerned about his team's chances of winning the Champions League title for the first time since 2015 before facing Napoli in the first leg of the final price next Tuesday.
"This year we and Real came out volatile in the race for the title, but I think we will fight until the end of the season," Messi added.
He concluded by saying, "But if we want to win the Champions League title, we must continue to improve significantly as a team because I think that our current level does not qualify us to compete for him."