Barcelona set to sign Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho for £100m… but here are the five superstars they want to replace Neymar on top of that deal
Neymar is closing in on his record-breaking £196m transfer to Barcelona, but Coutinho was already on the summer shortlist
BARCELONA fans will have to face up to the fact that their Brazilian superstar is exiting stage right.
Neymar is set to complete a £196million move to Paris Saint-Germain in a transfer that will stun the football world, as well as smashing the world record.
And Liverpool are quaking in their boots as Barca have turned their attention to playmaker Philippe Coutinho to soften the blow of losing their Samba star.
But it is believed Coutinho was already shortlisted to arrive at the Blaugrana BEFORE the Neymar bombshell broke.
So SunSport takes a look a the five other players Barcelona believe could replace Neymar... and how much they would cost.
Kylian Mbappe - £161m
He has become the most sought-after teenager in world football, so it's little surprise Monaco striker Kylian Mbappe would cost a huge amount.
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The French outfit are believed to have slapped an astronomical fee of £161m on his head. That's enough to pretty much kill off Premier League interest, but Barcelona may look to pursue this deal.
Real Madrid and Manchester City are both keen on the teenager but Barcelona could now join the race for the 18-year-old.
But there could be one reason why Barca could fail in this bid - Mbappe is a huge Real Madrid fans and adores Cristiano Ronaldo.
Kylian Mbappe factfile
- Born in Bondy, a suburb of Paris, on December 20, 1998
- Joined Moncao in 2013 after two years at the famed French national football centre, Clairefontaine
- Made his Monaco debut on December 2, 2015 - beating Thierry Henry's 21-year-old record to become the club's youngest ever player aged 16 years, 347 days
- Scored his first goal for the club in February 2016 and become Monaco's youngest ever scorer aged, 17 years, 62 days, once again beating a Thierry Henry record
- In February 2017, become the youngest player since 2005 to score a Ligue 1 hat-trick, aged 18 years and two months
- Took the Champions League by storm, helping Monaco to the semi-final of the competition with six goals in nine matches
- Finished the season with 26 goals in all competitions and was named in the Ligue 1 and the Champions League teams of the season
- Made his France debut in March 27 against Luxembourg - becoming the second youngest French player ever (behind Maryan Wisnieski) at 18 years, 3 months, 5 days
Paulo Dybala - £107m
He may have only signed a new deal with Juventus in January this year, but the Italians could be up for a deal if they receive a bid of over £100m for their star striker.
SunSport reported how Lionel Messi has put forward a three-man shortlist of potential replacements for Neymar - and Dybala is on it.
The Argentinian is apparently the first name on the list – and one the Catalan club strongly agree would be an ideal fit.
But he could take a bit pf persuading.
Speaking after Juve beat PSG 3-2 in the International Champions Cup in Miami on Wednesday night, Dybala said: “The transfer market? I’m happy here.
“I’m fine with Juventus and over these days I’ll be training as hard as I can to have a great season.”
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Antoine Griezmann - £170m
Barcelona will have to pay a whopping £170million to sign Antoine Griezmann in this window.
However, in order to secure his signature, they will have to pay Atletico Madrid the mammoth release clause the striker has until September 1.
Once the summer transfer window concludes, Griezmann’s buy-out fee will return to the relatively more modest £85m.
The 26-year-old signed a new contract with the Rojiblancos despite strong interest from Manchester United after it was confirmed Fifa would uphold a transfer ban against the club.
As they aren’t allowed to sign anyone until January, Griezmann showed loyalty by rejecting the chance to move and extending his contract.
Angel Di Maria - £40m
If PSG complete the Neymar signing, they will have to ship out around £100m worth of talent to satisfy financial fair play.
And one player out the door could be Angel Di Maria - who could well head the other way and join Barcelona.
It will be a controversial move with the Argentinian listing fierce rivals Real Madrid among his former clubs, but for around £40m it could be a decent deal for Barca.
Mundo Deportivo report that Barca are open to the prospect of bringing in Di Maria, and have apparently made ‘first contact’ with the player.
The Spanish outlet claim that the 29-year-old is interested in a switch to Barcelona, where he could link up with international team-mates Javier Mascherano and Lionel Messi.
Ousmane Dembele - £79m
Barca will have to shell out a whopping £79million if they want to land Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund.
The France attacker has been a revelation this season at the Westfalenstadion and made a big contribution as England were defeated 3-2 at the Stade de France last week.
Dembele has netted six times for Dortmund in 22 leage games last term, and also scored for France in the 3-2 friendly victory against England recently.
And his playing style has attracted the interest of Ernesto Valverde and Barca.
