Chelsea have met with Paris Saint-Germain to discuss a potential move for Brazil forward Neymar ahead of the summer transfer window, according to Le Parisien.
The online news portal claims the Blues owner Todd Boehly flew to meet with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi in Paris on Tuesday during the Ligue 1 side’s 1-0 Champion League defeat to Bayern Munich.
The West Londoners spent £323m in the winter transfer window on eight new players including Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke and Joao Felix, having already splashed out close to £300m last summer.
Chelsea’s spending spree is expected to continue at the end of the season and a move for Neymar could be on the cards as Graham Potter looks to reshape his team.
The Blues were first linked with a move for Neymar last summer, with Thomas Tuchel keen on reuniting with the South American having coached him for nearly two years in France, however, the Ligue 1 giants held on to the Brazilian.
Last month, Chelsea were once again credited with an interest in the former Barcelona forward and were prepared to make a move on transfer deadline day but they were told a deal for Neymar was not possible.
Potter wants to strengthen his attacking options having only scored four goals in their last nine outings as they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat at Dortmund in the Champions League round of 16 first leg tie on Wednesday.
Quality signing
According to Le Parisien, PSG are ready to sell Neymar for around the £53m (€60m) mark and it is believed that the asking offer would not be a problem for free-spending Chelsea.
However, his current wages worth of £31.9m (€36m) per year could be a deciding factor for the deal to go through despite Todd Boehly being a big fan of Neymar and wants to see him at Stamford Bridge.
Neymar, whose PSG contract runs until 2027, represented Brazil at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar but failed to inspire his nation to the finals as they were knocked out 4-2 on penalties by Croatia in the quarter-finals.
The Brazilian has 17 goals and 16 assists in 28 appearances for PSG this season as they sit top of the Ligue 1 table with 54 points, five points above second-placed Marseille.
Since moving to PSG from Barcelona, the 31-year-old has banged in 117 goals and provided 76 assists in 172 appearances for the French club and has won every domestic trophy in France.
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