Manchester City sporting director Txiki Begiristain flew to Brazil last week for talks to sign Neymar.
City bound? Brazilian superstar Neymar could well be wearing sky blue next season Photo: GETTY IMAGES
Begiristain spent two days in South America to open discussions to buy the
20-year-old striker at the end of the season, which would be a bold shake-up
to their strike-force and raise further question marks over the future of
Mario Balotelli.
City are aware they will face strong competition from Barcelona should
Neymar’s club Santos finally be persuaded to sell. Chelsea and Real Madrid
have also previously thought they had agreements to sign Neymar, who is
valued at around £32m (40m euros), only for the deals to stall.
There is pressure on the player to remain in Brazil until after the 2014 World
Cup but City have been encouraged that Santos might sell next summer and
Begiristain felt that by flying to Sao Paulo he would reinforce their
intent.
It was left to midfielder Gareth Barry to score the winning goal for the
champions in stoppage time against Reading yesterday to ensure City kept the
pressure on Manchester United in the Premier League title race. City
are now three points behind United ahead of the leaders’ match at Swansea
today.
“It was difficult clearly, because we had a lot of possession and had the
chances but didn’t score,” City manager Roberto Mancini said. “Our support
know we try until the last seconds – always.”
Source : TheTelegraph
Source : TheTelegraph
