Luis Suarez: Lionel Messi & I told Neymar not to make 'mistake' of joining PSG

Luis Suarez has revealed that both he and Lionel Messi warned Neymar against a controversial world-record 2017 transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain.

Neymar, having been at Barcelona for four years and winning the Champions League as part of a 2015 treble, opted to leave when PSG triggered the €222m (£199m) buyout clause in his contract. It was solely up to the player as the clause cut Barca out of being able to negotiate.

Aside from a bumper contract believed to almost double his Barca wages, Neymar also had the chance to step out of Messi's shadow by moving to Paris and become the number one superstar ar a club. Yet, by 2019, it waswidely reported that he was desperate to go back to Camp Nou.

«We were very good friends, and we knew if we fulfilled our roles on the pitch, we would make Barcelona great,» Suarez recalled in an interview with

«If one of us did not play well, the other two would make the difference. It was a spectacular relationship. We told him it was a mistake to go to PSG. If Ney wanted to be the best, he had to stay by Leo’s side. But, he made his decision, and it left a void in the team.»

The move didn't go as planned for either party.

Despite dominating French domestic football, Neymar's PSG failed repeatedly in their main objective of winning the Champions League – one final, one semi-final exit and last 16 eliminations during the Brazilian's six seasons in Paris wasn't a good enough return on the club's overall investment.

Neymar's injury record ensured he also struggled to get on the pitch enough, averaging fewer than 30 games per season across all competitions – 173 appearances in total when a fully fit player over the same period of time might have played close to over in excess of 300 games.