Barcelona's Iniesta: Neymar to Real Madrid might 'annoy me'

Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta admitted that the prospect of Neymar leaving Paris Saint-Germain to join Real Madrid would "annoy" him amid speculation that the Brazil star is unhappy at his new club.

Neymar left Barcelona last summer to join PSG for a world-record €222-million transfer fee, but has been the subject of reports stating he's unhappy at his new club, while Real Madrid president Florentino Perez teased that it would "make it easier" for Neymar to win the Ballon d'Or in the Spanish capital.

While Neymar has been adamant that the stories are false, Iniesta offered that he'd rather not see his former teammate move to his club's rival.

"Anything can happen in football," Iniesta told reporters, as quoted by Sam Marsden of ESPN FC. "We've seen situations which seemed impossible and have then happened before.

"I would be indifferent. Maybe it would annoy me a little bit because he's a game-changer and he would strengthen a rival. But I'm not worried about it."

Since joining PSG, Neymar has made 18 appearances in Ligue 1 and in the Champions League, scoring 15 goals and recording nine assists. However, he is set to miss PSG's next match against Strasbourg in the Coupe de la Ligue as he returned to Brazil to deal with a "family issue."

As for Iniesta, the Barcelona star won't need to worry much about Real Madrid ahead of an El Clasico bout on Dec. 23, as the Blaugrana sit top of La Liga after 15 matches with an eight-point gap over their fourth-placed rival.