A senior Santos official has been left hastily backtracking in an
attempt to quell speculation that the Brazilian club will consider bids
for prize asset Neymar this summer.
Odilio Rodrigues, vice president of Santos, was initially quoted as telling Spanish radio station SER: “Neymar has rejected our offer of a new contract and we will listen to offers for his transfer this summer.”
However, he then quickly acted to claim that he’d been drastically misquoted, insisting: “Interviews through the phone are a complicated thing. A Spanish radio station called, but that thing they put in the paper is not true.
“I told them that I had read that Neymar said he wanted to leave. They either tried too hard to get something out of it, or they simply misunderstood what I said.
“It is not true either [that Santos are willing to start welcoming bids for Neymar]. He asked me if there were any clubs interested, and I said yes, of course, every transfer window there are new bids for him coming in, and we don’t expect it to be different this time.”
It remains to be seen whether the truth of the matter resides in the original comments attributed to Rodrigues or his later retraction, but there is every chance that Neymar will indeed make his way across the Atlantic in the summer.
Although other clubs have also been linked, notably Manchester City and Real Madrid, Barcelona’s case was strengthened with the revelation last autumn that they have already made a €10million (Dh47.8m) pre-purchase payment for an unspecified player, widely believed to be the Brazilian forward.
And the Catalan club’s hierarchy have regularly expressed their desire to bring Neymar to the Nou Camp, most recently less than a fortnight ago when club spokesman Toni Freixa confided: “I really like Neymar and I know lots of clubs are trying to sign him.”
Barca president Sandro Rosell also revealed that both former boss Pep Guardiola and current manager, Tito Vilanova, are big admirers of the player.
"The Brazilian interests us because the coaches have asked for him. (Pep) Guardiola did it and Tito (Vilanova) has confirmed it," he said.
Neymar has never explicitly stated his preference for joining Barcelona, but has repeatedly hinted they will be his number one choice with a series of complimentary comments about the La Liga leaders and their players.
Odilio Rodrigues, vice president of Santos, was initially quoted as telling Spanish radio station SER: “Neymar has rejected our offer of a new contract and we will listen to offers for his transfer this summer.”
However, he then quickly acted to claim that he’d been drastically misquoted, insisting: “Interviews through the phone are a complicated thing. A Spanish radio station called, but that thing they put in the paper is not true.
“I told them that I had read that Neymar said he wanted to leave. They either tried too hard to get something out of it, or they simply misunderstood what I said.
“It is not true either [that Santos are willing to start welcoming bids for Neymar]. He asked me if there were any clubs interested, and I said yes, of course, every transfer window there are new bids for him coming in, and we don’t expect it to be different this time.”
It remains to be seen whether the truth of the matter resides in the original comments attributed to Rodrigues or his later retraction, but there is every chance that Neymar will indeed make his way across the Atlantic in the summer.
Although other clubs have also been linked, notably Manchester City and Real Madrid, Barcelona’s case was strengthened with the revelation last autumn that they have already made a €10million (Dh47.8m) pre-purchase payment for an unspecified player, widely believed to be the Brazilian forward.
And the Catalan club’s hierarchy have regularly expressed their desire to bring Neymar to the Nou Camp, most recently less than a fortnight ago when club spokesman Toni Freixa confided: “I really like Neymar and I know lots of clubs are trying to sign him.”
Barca president Sandro Rosell also revealed that both former boss Pep Guardiola and current manager, Tito Vilanova, are big admirers of the player.
"The Brazilian interests us because the coaches have asked for him. (Pep) Guardiola did it and Tito (Vilanova) has confirmed it," he said.
Neymar has never explicitly stated his preference for joining Barcelona, but has repeatedly hinted they will be his number one choice with a series of complimentary comments about the La Liga leaders and their players.
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