LONDON: Paris Saint-Germain have made it clear to Neymar that there are absolutely no circumstances under which the Qatar-owned club’s record signing will be allowed to leave for Real Madrid this summer.
If necessary, PSG are prepared to present the Brazil international with the option of playing his football in Paris next season or not playing football at all, sources at the club have told Arab News.
Privately and publicly encouraged by Madrid president Florentino Perez to return to Spanish football just one year after his global record transfer from Barcelona, Neymar and his father have been agitating for the move for months. According to PSG sources, Qatar will not countenance handing over the most high-profile and expensive acquisition of a project designed to secure the club’s first Champions League.
Senior club figures have spent much of Neymar’s first season attempting to placate the Brazil international. In just one example, club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and sporting director Antero Henrique flew to South America in March to meet Neymar and his father and discuss how the club could keep the pair happy. Talks between the two camps included asking Neymar’s thoughts on who should replace Unai Emery as PSG coach, said a source close to the player.
The meeting followed a debut campaign pockmarked by evidence of Neymar’s discontent in France. There has been on and off-field tension between the forward and leading goalscorer Edinson Cavani, whom the Brazil international wanted to replace as the taker of the side’s penalties and free kicks.
Neymar complained about coach Emery’s tactics, man management and refusal to allow him to skip certain matches. On more than one occasion, the forward unilaterally declared himself unfit to play. As he recovered from surgery on a fractured metatarsal in his home country, the 26-year-old provoked further controversy by posting an image of himself playing online poker while his PSG team-mates secured the Ligue 1 title.
Bought out of his Barcelona contract for €222 million ($262 million) at the beginning of August, Neymar was rewarded with a basic salary worth more than €300 million over the length of a five-year contract — at that point the most lucrative ever agreed. No release clause was included in the Brazilian’s new deal, however, so a second successive summer switch can only happen with Qatari consent.
That, according to PSG sources, will not be forthcoming, with the club’s hierarchy ready to reprise the negotiating tactics with which they kept Marco Verratti in France a year ago. Holding offers from leading Liga and Serie A sides, the Italy midfielder pushed PSG to be allowed to leave only to be told that his options were: “To stay. Or stay and not play. Whichever you’d prefer.”
Verratti stayed and played. PSG are confident that, ultimately, Neymar will make the same choice under Thomas Tuchel, the new coach appointed by the club with the aim of landing a first Champions League. Last week Neymar published an image of himself in his employer’s 2018-19 first-team kit. “Proud to wear the new jersey and to continue giving you joy,” read the caption.
EXCLUSIVE: Qatar-owned PSG in frantic bid to keep star man Neymar
EXCLUSIVE: Qatar-owned PSG in frantic bid to keep star man Neymar
- Neymar has had an up and down season at PSG since his world-record move to the Parc Des Princes.
- Brazilian star publicly and privately encouraged to return to Spanish football by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
Ancestral Land heads King Khalid University Cup
- Progressive sprinter will be among field of 20 on Saturday at King Abdulaziz Racecourse
RIYADH: Ancestral Land (GB) was a sprinting success story last season and reemerges for a new campaign by heading a full-field of 20 runners in Saturday’s $40,000 (SR150,000) King Khalid University Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse.
The Red Stable of Prince Faisal Bin Khalid Bin Abdulaziz is well represented in the 1,400 meter event with three runners and the mount of Nawaf Al-Mudiani is by far the pick, having left Clive Cox in the UK before registering four wins in Riyadh last term.
His final success came with a comprehensive victory in the Dirt Sprint Qualifier in January before finishing sixth to the Breeders’ Cup winner Straight No Chaser (US) in the Group 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint on Saudi Cup weekend.
The six-year-old will also be having his first outing for Sultan Bin Jalal having formerly been in the care of US conditioner Jimmy Jerkens.
His main dangers would appear to be Luis Morales’ mount Love De Vega (IRE), who was also progressive last season — finishing third in the 1351 Sprint Qualifier — and has his first start since winning in March, along with the Adel Al-Fouraidi-ridden Power Of Beauty (IRE), who was eighth in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint.
Saturday also features two stand-out races for three-year-olds and Camilo Ospina takes the mount of November’s impressive winner Zanaat (KSA) for the White Stable of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz in the $40,000 Ministry of Sports Cup for fillies over 1,800 meters.
The equivalent race for colts and geldings is the 1,600 meter $40,000 Saudi Broadcasting Authorities Cup for which 17 will go to post, and Tuwajeri (IRE) is top-rated for jockey Muhammad Al-Daham, trainer Thamer Al-Daihani and owner Sheikh Abdullah Homoud Al-Malek Al-Sabah.
A competitive Open over 1,800 meters worth $32,000 rounds off Saturday’s card in which Al-Fouraidi and the Red Stable have an excellent chance with Painters Palette (IRE), who bids to follow up a recent five-and-a-quarter length victory.
Friday’s action is dominated by The Primary Champion of the Racecourses Sponsored by The JCSA — which are a series of three different races and sit alongside the Prince Fahad Bin Jalawi Cup and the Prince Abdullah Bin Jalawi Cup. All are worth a valuable $80,000.
The former is over 1,200 meters for older horses and has a field of seven headed by two highly-rated runners in Al-Daihani’s Muqtahem (IRE), who bids for a fifth win on the bounce, and Red Stable runner Zefzaf (US), who got back to winning ways on Dec. 19.
The latter race is for three-year-old fillies over 1,400 meters and features Sioux Perfect (IRE), who left Andrew Balding in the UK to join trainer Nawaf Al-Daihani and built on her underwhelming debut to score last weekend.
A maximum field has been declared for the Primary Champion of the Racecourses for four-year-old fillies over 1,800 meters topped by Ableekh (KSA) and Okht Saham (KSA), while 16 have been declared for the Purebred Arabian version of the Primary Champions race over 2,000 meters open to both sexes.
Top rated in that are Al-Komndaan (KSA) and Midhass (KSA), while Nijinski Al-Maury (FR), Saif Barzan (KSA) and Al-Kaaser (FR) are the standouts in the all-aged event over 1,800 meters.
