Wantaway Neymar flies back to Barcelona as transfer talks with PSG enter decisive phase

New Delhi: Brazilian superstar Neymar has reportedly flown back to Barcelona to resume his pre-season training with the Catalan giants even as negotiations over his potential move to Paris Saint-Germain enter a decisive phase.

Neymar, 25, stopped at Dubai on Tuesday, en route to Barcelona after fulfilling his promotional commitments in China. And reports in various European publications have claimed that the striker all but certain to leave Barca for a world record transfer fee.

It's claimed that the French giants are more than ready to pay the €222m (£196m) release clause in Neymar's contract at the Nou Camp.

Ernesto Valverde's Barca recently returned from a tour of the United States, where they registered victories over Juventus, Manchester United and Real Madrid.

Earlier in the day, reports of Barcelona blocking payment of a 26-million-euro ($31-million) bonus for Neymar emerged to further compound the whole transfer saga.

The renewal bonus was agreed on a year ago when Neymar extended his contract with Barcelona until 2021, and was due to be paid to the player after he completed a year.

But the club has decided to put it on hold pending to see how the situation evolves.

The contract Neymar signed also increased an early termination clause from 200 to 222 million euros.

Neymar's future is the talk of Spanish football, and particularly Barcelona supporters.

(With AFP inputs)