On Friday, Le Parisien published an article claiming that Chelsea, now owned by Todd Boehly, are interested in signing Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain.
This is nothing new, of course, as the Blues have been linked in the past since the American took over at Stamford Bridge, with a feeling that he sees the Brazilian as a star to drive the club forward and be their face going forward.
Whether the deal is a smart one is questionable, but Le Parisien certainly believe the Premier League club are lurking in case a door opens.
Neymar himself seems to be planning a stay in the French capital, where Luis Enrique recently took over, but since he was thinking about leaving last season, Chelsea and another club whose name Le Parisien are yet to discover, have ‘come for information’.
The Blues reached out to the players entourage to ‘find out his decision and position themselves in case of an exit’.
What’s different this time is that Chelsea are thinking about buying the 31-year-old outright, rather than loaning him from the Ligue 1 side.
Neymar’s value is estimated to be ‘between €50-70m’, and it’s recalled that when he’s in form, the Brazilian remains a ‘rare, creative and decisive player’.
As for Paris Saint-Germain in all this, their stance on a Neymar exit isn’t clear, especially with the dark clouds currently looming over Kylian Mbappé’s future.
The idea of having a trio of the Frenchman, Randal Kolo Muani and a player like Bernardo Silva means Neymar would have to drop deeper in midfield, which he can do easily, but neither Luis Enrique nor Luis Campos seem overly preoccupied at the idea of potential losing the former Santos starlet.
That’s why Chelsea are lurking, and clearly there is an intention from Boehly to leap at the opportunity if it presents itself.
