Barcelona Transfer News: Neymar, Lionel Messi Eyed to Replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Ligue 1 champions Paris St-Germain are clearly thinking big as they look ahead to a future without talismanic striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The French outfit are reportedly targeting Barcelona's biggest stars ahead of the Swede's contract expiring in 2016, after which the 33-year-old is not expected to continue in Paris.

Brazilian superstar Neymar is PSG's primary target, but the French giants are also not ruling out a possible move for Lionel Messi, per Le Parisien's Laurent Perrin (h/t AS):

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Neymar is PSG’s No.1 target. [If] Messi made himself available, they would not hesitate to go for him. Leo will be 29 years old in 2016 and knows that they would pull out the red carpet for him and fulfil him with gold. Everything would depend on him.

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Clearly, PSG would have to splash some serious cash if they were to snap up either of the Barcelona duo, with the Catalan giants surely unlikely to consider any deal that did not involve astronomical sums of money.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

The 23-year-old Neymar arrived at the Camp Nou in 2013, costing Barcelona in the region of £71 million, per BBC Sport's David Bond, and he has become one of the world's top players.

Messi is near enough priceless considering his pedigree, but if any club could afford the Argentine, it's PSG.

Ibrahimovic has been the Paris outfit's main man since his arrival from AC Milan in 2012, and he has had another fruitful season in 2014-15, scoring 17 league goals in 21 appearances, per WhoScored.com. 

However, he is most certainly in the twilight of his career, and there have been talks that he may even be on his way out of PSG in the upcoming summer transfer window, perhaps to Manchester United, per B/R UK:

B/R UK's Ryan Bailey and Jonathan Johnson recently discussed the Swedish international's future in France, with the consensus being that he would stay until the end of his contract in 2016:

Whatever the future holds, Ibrahimovic will inevitably play less and less for PSG as he gets older and the club are clearly on the lookout for a new superstar around which they can build their team.

Ligue 1 expert Johnson reports a duo of other targets from L'Equipe, Bundesliga players Kevin de Bruyne and Marco Reus both mooted but perhaps unlikely:

Financial Fair Play rules could impact PSG's bold transfer policy in the upcoming windows, they have already been sanctioned under said regulations in the past, per Ian Holyman of ESPN FC.

Indeed, if PSG truly have ambitions to sign either Neymar or Messi, they will have to regulate their spending enormously in preparation for a likely huge outlay on either Barca star.

The Messi move is highly unlikely as his future looks set to be at the Camp Nou.

But while Neymar is the slightly more realistic target, the Brazilian recently suggested he is still set to be in Spain for some time, while not ruling out a move to the Premier League, per Marc Williams in the Daily Star:

"As for playing in England myself, I'm very happy playing for Barcelona and I still have a long road to walk here."

PSG are gradually establishing themselves as a true global superpower in footballing terms and they have the financial clout to attract many of the world's biggest stars.

Whether that is enough to lure either Neymar or Messi away from their beloved Barcelona remains to be seen, but it certainly seems unlikely.