By DAN KARELL
Wednesday could mark the first time since Neymar’s arrival at Barcelona that he and Lionel Messi would start a match at the same time.
As Neymar has been working his way to full fitness and Messi has been trying to play through a thigh injury, both haven’t been able to start a match together. However, it looks as if the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup is where we’ll see the two South American stars on the field at the same time, surely what Barcelona imagined when they acquired Neymar this summer.
Messi returned to training on Monday after missing out on Barcelona’s 1-0 victory last Sunday, while Neymar, even though he didn’t start, played 27 minutes off the bench and is thought to be fresh enough to start on Wednesday evening at the Camp Nou.
Here are some more stories to get your Tuesday started:
PARDEW TO ONLY SELL CABAYE AT RIGHT PRICE
With news spreading that Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye has refused to play in each of their last two matches, the thought is that the team’s front office would be happy to offload him at whatever the price.
However, manager Alan Pardew came out on Tuesday and said that it’s not as simple as just letting him leave, and that he wouldn’t put the player ahead of the needs of the club.
“The bottom line with a world class player is that it (the fee) would have to be world class money,” Pardew told the Newcastle Chronicle.
Ten days ago, Arsenal submitted a bid in the region of £10 million for the French midfielder, much lower than Newcastle’s valuation. It’s thought that Arsenal would be forced to pay upwards of £20 million for Cabaye if they want to sign him.
GUNDOGAN SUFFERS INJURY SETBACK
Borussia Dortmund will have to wait at least another month until one of their key starters can take the field.
Ilkay Gundogan, who was so vital to Dortmund’s run to last season’s Champions League final, has suffered an injury set back and could be out for the next four weeks. The German international initially suffered a back injury on August 14 in a friendly international match against Paraguay and was originally expected to be back this week for full training.
The news means that Gundogan will almost certainly miss Germany’s World Cup qualifying matches against Austria and the Faroe Islands, while also missing the next few weeks of Dortmund games.
QUICK KICKS
Barcelona’s defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets has signed a new contract at the club through 2018, with a buyout clause of €150 million ($200 million). (REPORT)
Napoli owner Aurelio de Laurentiis announced on his Twitter feed that influential youngster Lorenzo Insigne had signed a new five-year contract, earning him €700,000 ($934,010) per season. (REPORT)
Both Georginio Wijnaldum and exciting 17-year-old Zakaria Bakkali will be in the PSV Eindhoven squad for Wednesday night’s Champions League match with AC Milan. (REPORT)
AS Monaco are set to activate the €20 million buyout clause of 20-year-old Geoffrey Kondogbia with Sevilla. (REPORT)
———
What do you think of these developments? Excited to see Messi and Neymar start together? Do you see Arsenal signing Cabaye after all? Do you see BVB bringing in cover for Gundogan before the transfer window closes? Do you believe Busquets is smart to sign a contract with that high of a buy out clause?
Share your thoughts below.