Sources have told ESPN FC that Neymar has an offer from Paris Saint-Germain worth €30 million per year after taxes on the table in addition to lucrative bonuses among other enticements, with Gerard Pique confirming earlier this week that Barca's players are trying to persuade him to stay.

In the meantime, Neymar remains with the Catalan side in the United States, where he has been doing the business on the pitch with three goals in back-to-back wins over Juventus and Manchester United.

"Yes," Rakitic told reporters at Barry University in Miami on Thursday, when asked if he understood Neymar's predicament. "It's a really difficult decision and we all understand.

"We want him to stay and there's not much more to say. We will understand [his decision] in any case. I hope he sees things the same way as us. He already knows our opinion. He's an important part of the dressing room, one of the family and we all want him to stay."

Asked if Neymar would be making a mistake swapping Barcelona for Paris, Rakitic added: "He knows better than anyone else [if it would be an error].

"Whatever he decides, we will respect it. As a friend and a teammate I would tell him to stay. He won't have the affection he has here anywhere else. I hope he stays with us, but he has our support whatever happens."

If Neymar decides to make the move, PSG would have to pay his €222 million buyout clause to complete the deal, although reports in France suggest the Ligue 1 club are keen to negotiate a deal with Barca.

Neymar, who scored the only goal in Barca's International Champions Cup win over United on Wednesday, trained with Barca in Miami on Thursday and is set to play against Real Madrid at the Hard Rock Stadium this weekend.

From there, he will travel to China, not back to Spain with the rest of his teammates, where he will fulfill both personal and club sponsorship commitments.

Despite all the talk about his future, though, Rakitic says Neymar remains his normal bubbly self. And pressed on if he thought his teammate would stay at the Camp Nou, the Croatian plumped for yes.

"I think so," he said. "Everything is the same, he's not been noticeably different. In the games he's been at 100 percent, he's not changed at all."

Meanwhile, Barcelona president echoed his previous statements that he doesn't wish Neymar to leave the club, telling The New York Times: "Well, you know Neymar is one of our best players, and so we don't want to lose that player.

"We want him to continue, continue with us. He still has four years of his contract, so nothing else to say.

"You know that players decide if they want to leave, they can decide.

"But as far as Barcelona, we want him, and we need him. Because if we want to win, we need the best players possible."