Premier League giants Chelsea are in pole position to buy Neymar Junior from Paris Saint Germain this summer. The Brazilian star will be a statement signing for the Premier League.
Football Insider reports that Chelsea is the forerunner for signing the 31 year old star forward in the summer. They have been linked with the player since last summer and it seems that finally some progress is being made.
Things have not gone well for Neymar in the last year. Since signing for PSG for a world record 222 million euros from Barcelona in 2017, he has not met fan expectations. PSG’s failure to win a Champions League, Neymar’s injuries, and bad spells of form all have led to him falling out with the fans.
Last year when Kylian Mbappe signed a new contract with PSG, he was given power at the club which Neymar did not like. The two have fallen out since and Neymar is now closer to an exit with PSG looking to cash in on him. It is also reported PSG wants to slash their wage bill and Neymar is one of the world’s best paid players.
Neymar needs to get back to world class form and he may need to leave PSG for that. The Premier League could revitalize his career with Chelsea hugely interested in the player.
They wanted to buy him 13 years ago when he was at Santos though he chose Barcelona in the end. Now the new owners of Chelsea want to buy Neymar this summer as ESPN reports that Todd Boehly, Chelsea’s co owner had secret meetings in Paris with PSG chairman Nasser Al Khelaifi for a summer transfer of the Brazilian.
PSG president Nasser al Khelaifi and Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly had a secret meeting in Paris to discuss a potential transfer for Neymar, sources have confirmed to ESPN đ pic.twitter.com/7WzlaQSInH
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 16, 2023
PSG will undoubtedly ask for a huge fee of upwards of 50 million euros for one of the world’s best players. This would not be a problem for Chelsea who has already splashed half a billion on new players since their acquisition by Boehly.
The club’s new philosophy focuses on young talent for the future and Neymar doesn’t quite hit that target. However, at his best, he does break open defenses which Chelsea desperately needs at the moment. The following, sponsorship, and jersey sales a star of Neymar’s stature would bring to the club as well as the league is also a factor for the club wanting him.
Neymar does not want to leave PSG however. L’Equipe reports that he will not leave the French club in the summer. He wants to see out his contract which runs until 2025 as his desire is to win the club their first Champions League. This makes a transfer to Chelsea highly unlikely. Chelsea will however keep working on bringing the samba flair to Stamford Bridge as it would be a statement signing for the Premier League.
Neymar has suffered another ankle injury which will keep him out for some time adding to the frustration of the fans and the club. It remains to be seen whether Neymar finally leaves the blue of Paris for the blue of London.
