10th August, 2019
Real Madrid have upstaged Barcelona in the race to land Brazilian striker, Neymar from Paris Saint Germain.Reports from both France and Spain, indicated that PSG’s Qatari owners and the player himself favour Madrid, more than Barcelona.
Beside, Madrid have made a better offer to PSG than what Barcelona put on the table.
Le Parisien claim Portuguese super agent Jorge Mendes is involved in brokering the deal, and Neymar has exchanged messages with Karim Benzema and Marcelo.
While Barcelona offered PSG £90m plus a choice of two players, including Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele, Madrid are said to be willing to match PSG’s offer of $222m, under a generous term.
According to reports, PSG are not interested in Barcelona’s player plus cash deal – wanting a straight transfer fee instead.
The twist in the player’s destination was first reported on Thursday by Brazil’s GloboEsporte. It said Neymar’s camp met with Madrid representatives to discuss the possibility of his move to the Bernabéu, while their talks with Barcelona have scaled back.
The authoritative Spanish sports newspaper, AS.com confirmed that talks are going on between Madrid and Paris Saint Germain.
According to AS, the first step in talks was taken a few days ago, when PSG called the Bernabéu offices to demonstrate their desire and flexibility to negotiate. And, surprised by the sudden opportunity to secure one of the best players in the world, and for a more affordable price than what was previously thought, Madrid decided to open talks with PSG’s representatives.
There has still been no concrete offer made, but sources close to negotiations have said that PSG is willing to discuss alternative options with Madrid rather than yield to pressure from Barça to lower his price.
There is even talk that the striker could arrive in Madrid on a one-year loan deal – and that would seem like a good arrangement for all parties. It would allow PSG to give the player one more year to increase his value and sell him at a higher price in 2020. For Madrid it would be a less risky investment in a player that offers unparalleled potential. And for Neymar it would be the opportunity to return to Spain.
This option, of course, would not be on the table for Barcelona. According to PSG sources, Barça has never come into direct contact with the French club, with all communications having been undertaken through an intermediary.
Some other factors being canvassed why Madrid is the certain destination for Neymar are the player’s respect for Madrid and the good chemistry between PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Florentino Perez, Madrid’s president.
“Throughout his career, Neymar has never made a single statement against Real Madrid because he has always been aware of the amiable relationship that his father and his representative Wagner Ribeiro have with Florentino Pérez and Madrid’s recruitment director Juni Calafat”, AS reported..
The good relationship between Khelaifi and Perez is in stark contrast to the conflict-laden relationship between Barcelona and PSG – tension that has played into the favour of Real Madrid, whose door is now the most open one for Neymar.