PSG ENCOURAGE NEYMAR TO PROVOKE DEFENDERS

Paris Saint-Germain have leapt to the defence of star player Neymar, who is recovering from his third injury in the last 12 months. They were apparently not happy with the result of a poll by French broadcaster RTL, in which, according to PSG, 78 percent of soccer fans think Neymar’s provocative style of play causes problem for him.

PSG responded by making a list of past football stars and legends that includes Ronaldinho, Pele, and Zinedine Zidane and asked if those greats of the game had provoked opponents with the creative way they played. PSG underscored its contention that he is unfairly targeted by opposing players, by showing statistics of how many times Neymar has been fouled this season in the French league and Uefa Champions League. They said Neymar has been fouled on an average of six times per game. Continue reading “PSG ENCOURAGE NEYMAR TO PROVOKE DEFENDERS”

BARCA OVER AND OUT

Barcelona’s defeat against Athletic Madrid has knocked out the team of Gerardo Martino from the Champions League which is a huge blow not only for the players and fans but the coach as he is going through his debut season with the Spanish club and still has secured any major trophies.

The Brazilian arrival from Santos, Neymar suggested his teammates on focusing on their upcoming tournaments and matches instead of dwelling in the past.

“You have to lift your head up because life goes on and keep moving forward.  We feel sad, losing is never easy.  Athletic knew how to defend very well, they were better.  With their style of football, which comes from defence, they were superior.” Neymar admitted.

The next few weeks will be crucial not only for Barcelona but especially for Neymar as he has to prove why the Spanish club decided to offload around €50 million for the Brazilian player. Neymar will be a central figure for Barcelona and their quest of securing the Spanish League title as well as the Spanish Cup.

The 2014 World Cup is over 2 months away from actually starting but Neymar recently revealed that all of the pressure and nerves is starting to build up around him.

“I think it is an honor to wear the Brazil shirt in my country and to see my greatest childhood dream come true. But the nerves are starting to appear and I’ve butterflies in my stomach’’.

“We are going to give our all out there to give Brazil the title. Your opponents always want to win and will give everything against Brazil. We have no preference regarding who we play as we know every match will be difficult. To get to the final will be a dream.” Neymar added on.

MARTINO BACKS NEYMAR

Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino has stated that the summer signing Neymar has certainly suffered from a dip in form because of the controversy surrounding his transfer. Neymar was brought to the club for a reported £ 48.5 million. This was the transfer fee revealed by Barcelona, but a complaint filed by one of the club members brought out a scam that reveals that the actual transfer fee may be in excess of £ 86 million. The whole value of the transfer when the salary of the player is taken into account crosses £ 110 million, thus making him the most expensive player in the world.

Barcelona were in danger of being filed for tax fraud before the club decided to make a payment of more than 10 million euros to the Spanish tax authorities. Prior to the revelation, Neymar was one of Barcelona’s best players this season. He was unable to match the record of Lionel Messi, but considering that this is his first season in European football, a return of 12 goals in 32 matches was extremely good for the Brazilian striker. Martino, though, says that the record would have been even better had it not been for the controversy, which seems to have affected the 21-year-old.

“If I had to give an explanation for [his form] then I would say it is to do with that. In his best moments he has played on the left or as a centre-forward and the other day he was on the right, where I also thought he did well. When a player has been out injured a month it is not easy to get back to their best form straight away. It is not like a day, or three days but a month,” said Martino. Barcelona president Sandro Rosell resigned due to his involvement in the case.

TAX INVESTIGATION

After weeks of investigation and rumors involving Neymar’s switch from Santos to Barcelona it was finally determined that the Brazilian made his move to Spain with a transfer fee of around €57 million and €40 million of that money was transferred to a company which is owned by Neymar’s father and the deal involved paying the company a substantial fee as part of the transfer in commission but Barcelona did not report or announce a lot of those facts, which is why the investigation was done and the Catalan club had to dig out many documents of the exchange.

 

The former president of Santos Luis Alvaro de Oliviera Ribeiro called Neymar to be a jerk and that it was a right decision to put people like him in court. He may be referring to the fact that the Brazilian knew all about the transaction with the substantial amount of money going directly to his family but instead of announcing it, he just remained quiet.

 

Neymar replied to Luis Alvaro de Olivier Ribeiro and he also criticized the board of directors of Santos as well as defending his father.
“Today, I understand why my friend Ganso didn’t stay in Santos: it wasn’t because he didn’t like the club or didn’t want to play for Santos, but because of the board of directors!

“I always respected all of them and I have been extremely professional. I’m utterly disappointed with former president LAOR and the current one, Odilio’’
“Today all that is gone after the things he said about my father. I’m sick of that, all that talking is getting on my nerves! If he thought my father was dumb, he was wrong! I’m a fan of my father and I’ll continue to be for having taken me to where I am today and if he made millions over that, what’s the problem? He worked; he didn’t wait for anything to fall from the skies’’.’Neymar wrote on his Intagram account.

UNDER INVESTIGATION

Neymar’s £ 50 million move to Barcelona is under a lot of investigation after allegations that the club simulated most of the values in the contract. The deal that took Neymar from Santos to Barcelona is believed to have been worth € 57 million. However, only € 17 million is thought to have been paid to the Brazilian outfit with the rest going to Neymar’s parents, who own a company called N&N. It is also thought that Barcelona paid around € 8 million to secure the rights to buy Neymar in 2014. A penalty of € 30 million was also in place if the Catalan club failed to make the purchase in time.

Since Barcelona were able to complete the deal in 2013 itself, it is understood that they have paid € 40 million to Neymar’s parents. This has caused a lot of controversy in Spain and the public prosecutors are ready to approach the court in order to reveal the true figures. Any negative outcome is likely to have disastrous consequences on president Sandro Rosell’s future at the club. Rosell made it a priority to bring Neymar – one of the hottest properties in world football to the club at any price.

Neymar, though, has denied speculation that there was simulation done in his move.

“I know that a lot is being said about my contract. I have spoken to [my father] to see what they were talking about exactly. My father was the one who signed the contracts and he is someone in whom I have total trust. There is nothing illegal. In any case, if anyone has any doubts, they should ask my dad because I’m concentrating on my job, which is playing football,” said the striker.

He has been in reasonably good form, but suffered an injury last weekend.

HAPY AT BARCA

Barcelona superstar Neymar has revealed that he is extremely happy with life at the Spanish club. The striker was £ 50 million signing from Santos in the summer. Many questioned his ability to adapt to life in European football after spending much of his youth days playing in Brazil. The 21-year-old is regarded as one of the hottest properties in world football and the Catalan club had to beat off competition from the likes of Real Madrid and Chelsea for his signature. He has proven to be a good signing so far after scoring four goals in the league alone.

Neymar has said that he already has experienced intense pressure with Santos, but the pressure after moving to Barcelona is on another level. The club is expected to win every match they take part, while Neymar is also expected to score lots of goals being the major summer signing. The injury to Lionel Messi has only increased the expectations of Neymar. The Argentine superstar is not expected to return until January. Even though he plays on the left, his astronomical transfer value means that people expect to score goals on a regular basis.

“It was the right moment to leave Brazil. I have chosen a marvellous club to play for – they have welcomed me with open arms. In Brazil, if you have a ball, you are already happy. If you are happy, then everything will be alright. Sometimes it feels like a dream. I look to one side and see [Lionel] Messi. To the other, Xavi Hernández. I am incredibly excited and honoured but there’s no fear,” said the 21-year-old striker to UEFA magazine.

Neymar has been used to the prospect of being the big star at Santos, but he is adapting to being one of the top players at Barcelona.

BRILLIANT PARTNERS

Lionel Messi helped Barcelona get a victory over Valencia during the weekend with a hat-trick. The 3-2 victory for Barcelona could have easily become a defeat had it not been for the brilliance of Lionel Messi and also new signing Neymar. There have been several doubts as to whether the two players can play in the same team, but manager Gerardo Martino revealed that this match shows more than anything else that they can play in the same team without any problem. Neymar was excellent, while Messi was absolutely brilliant as usual.

Neymar set up Messi for the hat trick to get Barcelona 3-0 up in the match. It looked like comfortable sailing for the Catalan giants, but they conceded two goals to Helder Postiga, who was brought in as a replacement for Roberto Soldado. This setup an intense final few minutes because Valencia threatened a lot to equalise and steal a point away from the Camp Nou. Barcelona, though, held on for the victory and they have now won all the opening matches of the season. They are one of the four teams to have this record after three games of the season.

Martino did admit that Barcelona did have a few problems when the ball was played into the penalty box.

“Yesterday there were doubts about the Messi and Neymar connection after their first game together. Things have been solved within 24 hours. It is true that in the second half we could have increased the difference. But at the same time Valencia hit the woodwork and that’s what concerns me most. I don’t think we’ve had a lack of control because we knew they would use their height. I believe that had the outcome have been different, I would still have been satisfied,” said Martino after the match.

Neymar told to pick between the #7 and #11

Spanish giants Barcelona have told new signing Neymar that he has a choice between taking either the club’s number 7 or 11 shirts when he returns from his summer holidays for his first practice session at the Camp Nou. The # 11 shirt became available after the club announced the sale of Thiago Alcantara to Bayern Munich, managed by former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola on Monday while the # 7 has also become after the arrival of the Brazilian led to David Villa’s exit to Atletico Madrid.

The Catalan giants paid a whopping € 57 million to prize him away from Santos after a pursuit of almost two years and the club wants to recoup as much money as they can from shirt sales as soon as they can, considering the fact that their financial condition is not very stable and have a lot of debt with various financial institutions.

The club has negotiated a deal with Neymar where they will retain much of the image rights for the Brazilian international which will enable them to get the most out of one of the most marketable assets in world football. And it is believed that the club has sought a quick decision from the player in order to capitalize on the immense demand for shirt sales with the name and number of the Brazilian wonder kid on the back.

The 21 year old is believed to favor the # 11 shirt which he wore during his time at Santos, where he became the most prolific scorer in the history of the club since the days of the legendary Pele. Neymar will join up with the club on the 25th of July but it is expected the club will start selling shirts bearing his name much before he arrives at Camp Nou.

NEXT RONALDINHO

Former Barcelona defender Edmilson has told the ftbllr football blog that Santos striker Neymar has the capability to become the next Ronaldinho at the Camp Nou. Ronaldinho established himself as one of the best players in the world during his spell at Barcelona. He was almost unstoppable for a period of two years during which time he helped the club win the Champions League title. Edmilson is one of the several Brazilian players to have had a spell at the Camp Nou. spent four years at the club from 2004 to 2008. He managed to see Ronaldinho at his peak.

He has said that he does not see a reason why Neymar can emulate the achievements of his fellow Brazilian at the Camp Nou. Barcelona have been heavily dependent on Lionel Messi for their successes over the last few years. Hence, there is a realisation that the Spanish club that they need to take the pressure off their Argentine star in order to get more success. Neymar has been consistently linked with a move to Barcelona over the last few years. He is valued at around £ 40 million, but Barcelona are not the only club interested in his services.

The 21-year-old has said that he is likely to leave Brazil after the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

“Neymar has a character like Ronnie, he plays football very cheerful, very fun, very spontaneous and with this commitment from Leo [Messi] to beat records every season, they can do great things together. He is focused and uncomplicated, so the fans will love him. In Brazil he has already done it all, he does not have any challenges left in Brazil. He should go to Barca and he will perform greatly,” said Edmilson, who also praised Real Madrid manager José Mourinho as one of the honest and open managers he has seen in football.

NEYMAR COMMITTED

The Santos striker Neymar has once again reaffirmed his commitment to the Brazilian club by saying that he wants to stay with his boyhood club for as long as possible. The 20-year-old Neymar has become one of the hottest properties in world football, with many clubs like Barcelona and Chelsea queuing up for his signature. He was widely linked with a move to Barcelona only a few months ago, but the resignation of Guardiola from his role as the Barcelona manager has now put the move in doubt. Neymar has spoken of his admiration for the former Barcelona manager by saying that he would one day like to work with him.

Guardiola was recently announced as the next manager for the German club at Bayern Munich. It will be interesting to see if the German club come in with a bid for the player, who has two years left on his current contract. Neymar has said that he does have a number of European ambitions, but is not in a hurry to experience them any soon. The player is expected to cost around £ 35 million for any club interested, which rules out most of the medium sized clubs out of the picture.

“He [Guardiola] is a great coach, one of the best in the world, and yes, I have a desire to one day work with him, as with the other great coaches in world football. But I will say it again: I want to carry on playing for Santos. I’m happy here,” said the Santos striker in a recent interview. It is understood that Neymar has a release clause of around € 70 million, but the club will be willing to negotiate a deal at a much lower price. Neymar has been urged to move to Europe by many pundits and former players.