For all you cynics out there, the Football Transfer Tavern has witnessed the return of the ‘Neymar to Manchester United’ rumours in recent days with Metro being just one source that alludes to the player wanting out of Barcelona due to the current shadow he resides in compared to Camp Nou darling Lionel Messi.
Arguably the third best player in world football behind Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo nowadays, Neymar currently makes up one third of the deadly Barca attacking trio that also includes Luis Suarez but to many, the prospect of him leaving the Catalan giants is still an unrealistic one.
Today and since the Neymar to United rumours resurfaced, The Mirror have been amongst those that claim Barcelona are preparing a new bumper £500,000-a-week contract to persuade the player to ignore United’s overtures and what’s becoming increasingly apparent is that Barcelona do fear potentially losing his services.
With there being no smoke without fire in football, some of our less cynical United punters have naturally gotten excited over the prospect of boasting Neymar in their team in the next few years and to be honest, who can blame them with Wayne Rooney seemingly having forgotten how to score on a regular basis!
So to provide these punters with some more hope, we’ve devised five reasons why Manchester United should believe they can get their hands on Neymar next summer.
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Click on the image below to reveal the five ways Manchester United can sign Neymar next summer.
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The power struggle with Lionel Messi
The concept the press are jumping on right now is the fact that Neymar is performing in Lionel Messi’s shadow with the Argentine superstar always going to be the main man at the Camp Nou.
While this concept seems to be at odds with the fact that the players teamed up fantastically well last season to deliver an incredible treble for Luis Enrique, it may secretly be the case that Neymar envies the adoration that Messi receives compared to him.
To be honest, if this is the case, Neymar is being greedy because no Brazilian player is idolised like him back in his South American homeland nowadays but if the player does want to be the main man, he’s definitely be that at United with Wayne Rooney’s influence lessening by the month right now.
Neymar’s aspirations to win the Ballon d’Or
Continuing on from our last slide, while Neymar is still a Barcelona player, it is going to be incredibly difficult for the player to usurp the talents of Lionel Messi who is still quite rightly the best player in world football.
With Neymar having now won the Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey since joining the Catalan giants in 2013, he may see it fit to chase a fresh challenge.
When you’re as successful as Neymar is, being the professional he is, he’ll surely be looking at what he can conquer next and winning the Ballon d’Or for the first time has to be on his list of priorities.
To win the coveted prize in his time at Barcelona would prove near on impossible given he’d have to outperform Lionel Messi but as we’ve seen with the likes of Alexis Sanchez joining Arsenal, by becoming the main man elsewhere, the chances of winning the gong seem that much more possible.
United have proved they’re not shy in splashing the cash
Compared to the Sir Alex Ferguson boom years, United have almost had to turn into a Manchester City in the transfer market to keep up with both the Citizens and Chelsea in more recent times.
A shame for the traditionalists yet a pre-requisite for any successful modern-day football club, we saw Unietd break the bank to land Anthony Martial on deadline day for a whopping £36 million but in fairness to the teenager, he’s stated his Red Devils career in fantastic fashion.
If United are prepared to splash nearly £40 million on a relatively untried talent such as Martial, just think how much they’d be willing to spend on an established superstar such as Neymar under the Ed Woodward reign.
In what may have to be a new world record transfer fee to usurp Gareth Bale, United are surely one of the more likely candidates to be in with a shout for his signature given their new high-spending ways.
The player is more than aware of United’s interest in him
While in the world of transfer rumours, it is mere speculation with even the players sometimes being unaware of reported interest, this isn’t the case with Neymar with the player’s father having previously referenced United’s interest.
Earlier this month, The Guardian reported claims from Neymar’s father who confirmed United tried to secure the Barcelona striker’s signature this past summer.
While we’re sure many clubs would like to acquire such a special talent as Neymar is, United have been linked with his signature more than anybody else and with these links, the player himself knows that he’s admired by Old Trafford chiefs.
If his situation at the Camp Nou rapidly deteriorated for whatever reason, surely United are at an advantage because they’ve tried to sign the player before?
Spain’s big two seem to stockpile world class talent
What other clubs worldwide can afford to dispose of the likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal like Real Madrid and Barcelona can?
The top and bottom of it is that Real and Barca are so good that they look to acquire the world’s next superstar each and every summer and that’s why being the flavour of the month in Spain is much more relevant than it is on our shores.
We saw this following last summer’s World Cup where Real acquired Colombian superstar James Rodriguez on the back of a fine tournament and what’s more, despite boasting a fearsome frontline and their transfer ban, Barca still moved for Atletico Madrid’s Arda Turan this summer.
In essence, nobody stockpiles world class talent quite like Spain’s big two and with Paul Pogba being a world class talent on Barcelona’s radar, perhaps the Catalan club might have to part with the likes of Neymar to make space for the Frenchman in terms of wages?
