Pique: The doors are open for Neymar to return to Barcelona Barcelona Brazilian almost re-joined the Catalans in the summer

Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique has admitted that he warned Neymar about joining Paris Saint-Germain back in the summer of 2017, although the Catalan would welcome the Brazilian forward back to the club.

The 32-year-old even revealed how the players tried to persuade president Josep Maria Bartomeu into making the deal happen, with financial fair play a risk in a deal of that magnitude.

"Neymar back to Barcelona? In football, anything can happen," Pique told El Larguero.

"We already told him: you're going to a golden prison. The doors are open for him [to return].

"What's been said, that he wants to return to Barcelona, yes [it's true].

"We told Bartomeu that if payments were deferred on contracts to adjust to financial fair play in order for Neymar to join, we'd do it."

Pique has always been one to embrace the rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid, although he recognises that sometimes he has taken it too far.

"The Barcelona-Madrid rivalry has always been pushed to the limit, and sometimes I have even exceeded the limit," Pique acknowledged.

"When I take off my kit, I've never had any problems with the people of Madrid.

"And I get on very well with Nacho [Fernandez], Lucas Vazquez... With Sergio Ramos I don't have a friendship, but we have a lot of respect.

"I've always gotten along very well with Madrid's players."

El Clasico has been postponed from October 26 to December 18 due to the protests in Catalonia surrounding the sentences handed out to political prisoners, although Pique saw no reason to change the date.

"My humble opinion is that there was no need to postpone El Clasico," he noted.

"There has never been violence in a stadium in Spain. It was magnifying something that wasn't a problem.

"Who's to say that on December 18 what they said was going to happen [might still take place]?

"I think that playing Barcelona-Real Madrid on a Wednesday is not the best thing for Spanish football. They should have picked it up and said, 'you'll play here and that's it.'

"Pep [Guardiola]'s speech? Everyone has their own opinion."