BARCELONA: Barcelona and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi offered to help former team-mate Neymar win the Ballon d’Or award to convince him to stay at Camp Nou, Spanish media reported on Tuesday. According to Spanish media, Messi along with forward Luis Suarez met the Brazilian before preseason fixture against Juventus in Los Angeles and convinced him to stay at Barcelona, however they had no idea that a deal with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) was already penned. “What do you want? You want to be the Ballon d’Or? I’ll make you Ballon d’Or,” Messi reportedly told Neymar during their conversation. Messi had agreed on playing a playmakers role in the team to assist Neymar’s elevation as the main man, doing exactly that in preseason game against Juventus in which the Brazilian scored twice in Barca’s 2-1 win, but the 25-year-old had already decided. Neymar has expressed on several occasions that he desires to win the Ballon d’Or (footballer of the year award) and is striving to put his hands on the award. Barcelona are in talks with Borussia Dortmund for signing Ousmane Dembele and Liverpool over Philippe Coutinho as possibe replacements to Neymar.