Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are looking to rival Manchester United in their pursuit of FC Barcelona star Neymar with a reported £100 million offer
With Champions League participation confirmed with a 5-0 thrashing of Watford on the final day of the Premier League, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are already looking ahead to the transfer window with the Sun claiming that they’re looking to scupper Manchester United’s bid for Neymar.
The FC Barcelona star has enjoyed arguably his best season with the Catalans as quite often he shone brighter than some of the more illustrious names in the team. It was hence no surprise that the big money merchants came knocking on the door at Camp Nou to acquire the player’s potential signature.
Manchester United have long been linked with Neymar’s signature however with their Champions League hopes resting on a massive Europa League final date against Ajax on 24th April, City could capitalize should their city rivals falter.
In that case, the Citizens have been expected to cough out a remarkable world record £100 million bid in their efforts to unite Pep with the player he missed out on coaching at Barcelona.
The Spaniard left the hot seat at the Camp Nou after a legendary four year spell that saw his side lift no less than 14 trophies spanning the continental and international spectrum.
Neymar made the move from native Santos to Barcelona a year after Pep’s departure. The 25-year-old has since afforded a fruitful return of 104 goals and 79 assists from 185 outings for the the Catalan outfit.
United may or may not be able to offer Champions League football, but they have still managed to bring an array of stars to the Premier League. Last summer the Red Devils secured the services of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Bundesliga Player of the Year Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba despite not having Champions League football on offer.
And there are no shortage of names they’re being linked with this summer either with an array of continental superstars linked with a chance to play for the famous Red of Manchester.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Yannick Carrasco and Willian are just a few among the many big names Jose Mourinho is looking to pursue and what United may not have in kind (Champions League football), they can easily compensate for it in cash.
It remains to be seen whether takes the plunge Mourinho’s Red Devils or he’ll look to take City to greater heights in the competition by uniting with Guardiola. Either ways should the player decide to leave Barcelona this summer, that in itself will prove to be the headline act of the summer, let alone where his next destination. Such is the quality and market value of the player.
At the age of 25, the Brazilian is enjoying regular first team football at one of the biggest clubs in the world winning silverware. And there seems to be little evidence of him wanting to change any of that so only time will confirm the legitimacy of the aforementioned reports.
