Neymar’s renewal with Barcelona is becoming a saga, or as we call it in Brazil, a soap opera. The player wants to stay, but demands a pay rise, and his tax problems in Spain and huge offers from other clubs are pushing towards a move away from the Catalan side.
This Thursday, Mundo Deportivo has a story with several updates about the situation, as Barcelona have even sent officials to follow the player during his vacations in the United States and Brazil. That sounds ever so slightly creepy, but we’ll stick with it.
One of Mundo Deportivo’s sources, who is said to be close to the negotiations, has spoken anonymously to the newspaper and told them that Manchester United are one of the interested clubs.
“The Neymars have much noise around them. PSG, United, Madrid… the only one who haven’t attacked this time were City. Luckily, Neymar loves Barça. If it was for money, he wouldn’t be at the club anymore.”
Manchester United have appeared as one of the strongest competitors for Neymar for a while, as several reports from earlier this year said the Red Devils would be ready to pay the player’s huge release clause.
Being such a rich club, Manchester City have obviously been linked to Neymar in the past, but the interest never seemed to be serious. Mundo Deportivo’s source put them out of the race, but led the readers to understand that they were interested in the past and have only given up recently.
The Guardiola effect, maybe?
Manchester United and Neymar is a story that simply won’t die. There’s probably some kind of interest, but a deal is unlikely and Edward Woodward and his team need to make sure they’re not chasing rainbows again.
