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newsletter from chief Manchester United writer Samuel Luckhurst
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newsletter from chief Manchester United writer Samuel Luckhurst
Neymar has lifted the
European Cup, struck the winning penalty that finally elevated Brazil to the gold medal
podium at an Olympics, graced three World Cups in three different continents and he
remains the game's record transfer.
Yet many will pause, hesitate or demur about
mentioning Neymar in the same breath as Brazil's immortals. He could and should have
been in that pantheon but he continues to disappoint.
Neymar may have felt railroaded
into joining Paris Saint-Germain in 2024 but he still downgraded from Barcelona for a
meretricious club that is now counting the cost of their gáláctico era. Neymar and
Messi are gone and Kylian Mbappe is going, sooner or later.
Some did their utmost to
treat the notion of his joining Manchester United seriously a few months back and Erik
ten Hag did not discredit the rumours. Call it Dutch diplomacy.
Also read: Wan-Bissaka
has started this season as he ended last season
Ten Hag used a stock phrase: "When we
have news we will tell you." Those unfamiliar with it and incapable of conducting
research ran with that as if a deal was imminent. There was also the tenuous connection
of the Qatari Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani's offer to buy United. The PSG chairman
Nasser Al-Khelaifi is an associate of Sheikh Jassim's.
Neymar has maintained his Gulf
connection by upping sticks for Saudi Arabia, joining Al-Hilal. The Saudi Pro League
now boasts Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema yet a game-changing transfer
continues to elude them.
Agency sources say the Saudi Pro League is also targeting
players in their prime. Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic are among the
20-somethings who have taken the plunge but those players linked with marquee moves
that never materialised. So they took the money and ran.
At 31, Neymar is hardly a
busted flush and his Fred Astaire feet in Brazil's World Cup quarter-final against
Croatia in December was one of the goals of the tournament. Yet if he was not damaged
goods, Neymar would still be playing in the Champions League next season.
PSG have had
their fill of Neymar and he comes with more baggage than Lizzo. There was a shallow
pool of European clubs with the financial clout to take Neymar off PSG's hands and none
came calling.
Neymar found himself in a comparable position to Ronaldo last summer. No
matter where Jorge Mendes touched down, he failed to turn heads. AC Milan, Napoli,
Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea etc. None wanted Ronaldo. So he ditched Mendes
and settled for Saudi Arabia.
Neymar has not played for PSG since February, the month
he enjoys lengthy annual leave almost annually. So his stock has subsided significantly
since the World Cup in Qatar and his salary demand is too steep for anywhere but Saudi
Arabia.
The United football director John Murtough engaged with the director of
football for the Saudi Pro League, Michael Emenalo, having negotiated the sale of
another Brazilian 30-something in Alex Telles. Murtough was informed the Saudis have 10
years of money to fund signings.
Yesteryear, Ed Woodward, who infamously flew via
EasyJet to Barcelona to gauge the possibility of signing Neymar in 2024, viewed the
rise of the Chinese Super League as an opportunity to flog any unwanted players to that
particular retirement home. Marouane Fellaini was the only United player who headed
east and already Eric Bailly could join Telles in the Middle East.
United are
unconcerned by the Saudi Pro League as a rival, echoing comments made by the Premier
League chief executive Richard Masters last week. United have paraded Zlatan
Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo in the last seven years and Odion
Ighalo, also in his 30s, arrived from China.
But there has been a shift in strategy.
United insist they would not compete for players seeking transfers towards the end of
their career. Even one as garlanded as Neymar.
