Barcelona Transfer News: Neymar Sale Prepared Amid Unhappy Team-Mate Rumours

Barcelona are reportedly "preparing the way" in case they are forced to sell Neymar for financial reasons in the summer.

According to Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Guillem Balague, Barca were "not fully unhappy" about a media campaign started this week that questioned Neymar's professionalism and reported that some of his team-mates were unhappy with his lifestyle.

The reason the club were not against the reports is because they are "scared," having not yet secured a sponsor for next season, they will not be able to afford the renewal of Neymar's contract and will be forced to sell him, per Balague.

Balague added that while Neymar wants to stay at the Camp Nou, he has "flirted" with a move to the Premier League.

The 24-year-old superstar has been consistently linked with a move to Manchester United, and it was recently reported the Red Devils would be prepared to pay Neymar's €190 million (£148.8 million) release clause in order to sign him, per Sport's Lluis Mascaro.

Mascaro added Real Madrid are interested in the forward as well, while L'Equipe said he is a target for Paris Saint-Germain as a replacement for the outgoing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, via French football writer Jonathan Johnson:

Barca will not be short of high-profile suitors if they are indeed forced to sell Neymar, and they will be able to demand a huge fee as his current deal at the club still has two years left to run.

However, very few at the Catalan club are likely to want to see him depart.

Neymar has continued his progress this season to becoming the best player in the world. He claimed his first podium spot in the Ballon d'Or—alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo—and was arguably the top player in Europe in the first half of the 2015-16 campaign.

He and Luis Suarez steered the Barca ship admirably in Messi's injury-enforced absence at the end of 2015, and Neymar has racked up 22 La Liga goals and 10 assists so far this season, per WhoScored.com.

He broke a scoring drought stretching back to March 20 by netting against Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday, but he has looked slightly out of form recently as Barca have endured a tough spell, per Bleacher Report's Dean Jones:

It would be no surprise if he was suffering fatigue considering how much football he has played in the last year, per the Times' Gabriele Marcotti:

Barcelona are a better side when Neymar is in their lineup and looks the heir apparent to Messi as the Blaugrana's star man.

However, it seems there is a danger Barca could be forced to sell the Brazil captain—a worrying scenario for the Camp Nou faithful.