By RYAN TOLMICH
Neymar is currently one of the top players for the reigning UEFA Champions League winners, but the Brazilian is reportedly interested in a move to another big club.
The Barcelona forward is open to a move to Manchester United, although a deal is unlikely to come to fruition in the current transfer window. Rather the deal is more than likely to come next summer, and would require a record-breaking free to pry Neymar from the grips of Barcelona, as the Brazilian currently has three years remaining on his current deal.
Manchester United executive vice chairman Ed Woodward reportedly flew to Barcelona last week in an attempt to secure a deal for Pedro, which ultimately fell through as the winger moved to Chelsea. In addition, Woodward reportedly used the opportunity to discuss bids for Neymar.
Overall, Neymar is said to be interested by the opportunity to play in the Premier League, although Manchester United reportedly remains concerned that the deal is nothing but a ploy for the Brazilian to secure a record-breaking contract with Barcelona.
In response, Barcelona manager Luis Enrique refused to comment on any potential move for Neymar, who is currently out of action with the mumps.
“I heard Neymar and another club and I am no longer interested in this question,” Enrique said. “IÂ don’t talk about rumors and this kind of thing. I am just focused on analyzing my team.”
Here are some more news and notes to kick off your Monday morning:
FIFA HEAD OF REFORM SAYS BLATTER IS OVERLY-CRITICIZEDÂ
Sepp Blatter has long been the target of criticism, but FIFA’s new head of reform insists that much of that is unwarranted.
François Carrard, who was appointed earlier this month as the independent chair of FIFA’s 15-person reform committee, says that Blatter has unfairly been a lightning rod for criticism in recent years. According to Carrad, the disdain for Blatter comes not from any wrongdoing, but rather simply from his extended tenure in charge of the organization.
“There is something unfair in the way he is treated,” Carrard said, “I say that with complete independence. We are in the process of pillorying him. Unfortunately, it’s always like that when somebody stays too long, the negative side gets noticed.
“This man has been unfairly treated. And if we talk about corruption … I have the whole U.S. proceedings on my table. In the indictment, there is not one word against him. Nothing. Today I am not aware of any indication of corruption against Blatter.”
Carrard went on to say that he believes that those within FIFA are open to reform, but the practice of actually making changes is one that will have to be approached with realistic expectations.
MILAN PREPARED FOR BALOTELLI LOAN RETURN
Mario Balotelli looks to be unwanted by Liverpool, leaving a return to his former club as a potential option.
The Italian striker could reportedly rejoin AC Milan on a season-long loan as Liverpool continues to try and offload the striker. Balotelli previously featured for Milan from 2013-14, playing 43 games and scoring 26 goals.
AC Milan vice president and CEOÂ Adriano Galliani did little to dispel the rumors when asked about a Balotelli return.
“Certain loves never die,” Galliani said. “They draw enormous circles and then they come back. Club president Silvio Berlusconi and I are two romantics.”
QUICK KICKS
Juan Cuadrado is set to move to Juventus on a season-long loan from Chelsea. (REPORT)
Bayern Munich press officer Markus Horwick says that the club is not pursuing Kevin De Bruyne. (REPORT)
Everton continues to insist that Chelsea target John Stones is not for sale. (REPORT)
Barcelona fullback Dani Alves suffered a groin strain in this past weekend’s win over Athletic Bilbao. (REPORT)
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What do you think of the Neymar rumors? Has Blatter been unfairly criticized? How would Balotelli fare at AC Milan?
Share your thoughts below.
Head of FIFA Reform = criminal in training
= Being groomed for next FIFA president
Blatter is either guilty or incredibly incompetent. It is as simple as that.
I cannot be the only one who finds Neymar arrogant and annoying. He strikes as that really good opponent you play against, but you really just want to smack across the face.
Agree, but we don’t really know him. At all.
Staying humble, when so many are telling you that you will be the greatest in the world someday and then sure enough you are in the conversation, has to be hard.
But it can be done and has to be done.
FIFA = cult of personality
Good leadership requires accountability. Good governance requires some level of transparency. As head of the organization, a leader needs to lead in both areas. Taking blame for what is going wrong and being transparent on how it will get fixed would be a good start. Another poor trait of Blatter’s leadership is how he basks in the glory, but never gives credit to those who actually run and organize things there. How often does he publicly praise his COO and the team he assembled after he publicly cleanses himself in the success of another World Cup? And his blaming others for the corruption while claiming he can’t watch everyone: shameful.
why would Neymar even consider a move like that? MU is a big step down from FCB, at 23 and this is only his 4th season there too soon!
I guess one consideration could be that he wants to prove that he is great by playing in a top league as opposed to playing in a league where his team will be scoring 200 goals each season and he will be scoring 50 at ease.
The EPL is so overrated. Wake me up when they win the Champions or Europa league. La Liga > Bundesliga > Premier League > Serie A
I am not an EPL fan AT ALL. I agree that it is way overrated as shown by CL results. However, it is way more balanced than La Liga. It is still a bigger achievement to score 30 goals in EPL every year than to score 50 for Real or Barcelona. If he was scoring 50 for Villareal, I would view it as being super-impressive
but aren’t they playing in the same league if he’s at villareal? Look at fringe players from barca like alexis and pedro go to the prem and light it up, think before you talk
He is saying Barcelona and Madrid are so good and stacked as teams that players have an easier time to score. You cannot focus on one or two players because everyone can score. That is not the case at Villarreal.
You are not really attacking his argument which is those teams are so much better than everyone else, it is easier to score (which I don’t completely agree with). Of course, Barcelona and madrid fringe players would do well elsewhere….those are the 2 best teams in the world.
Think about this way; you have a high school league with 10 teams where 8 teams have players good enough to start and a few have all league players and 1 or 2 have a few all region players. The other two teams have the best players in 100 team state division. Essentially, all the all state players are on those teams. The other 8 teams can’t guard against them because they can score from anywhere – there would be too much space.
I could easily make the argument that being considered a starter (beating out the other best players in the state) is more prestigious than being a stud on another team that is not so talented. Why do we try to make these arguments? It’s so dumb.
I don’t think Neymar would leave Barca, but if he did, I could see this argument:
(1) Neymar will always live in Messi’s shadow at Barca. There will always be a question about his worth sans Messi (deserved or not), (2) things may stay similarly great, but they are unlikley to get better at Barca, (3) Neymar would not only be “the man” at ManU, he’d be a potential savior of a team looking to wrest back its prestige from new newly-rich teams, (4) Barca is huge, but the EPL is the most popular league in the world. As big a star as Messi is now, Neymar could eclipse that if he proves to be a hit at ManU, (5) the idea that the best player from Argentina and the best player from Brasil should be teammates working together on offense — well, that’s not exactly the way things usually work in South America.
The rivalry between Argentina and Uruguay has just as much teeth in it as the rivalry between Brazil and Argentina.
In fact the term “olimpico” for a goal scored direct from a corner comes from a game between Argentina and Uruguay way back when.
Still, you make a good point. Alexis seems to be thriving at Arsenal in a way he was never going to at Barca.
What are the chances of Neymar joining United? Have your say! https://goo.gl/x5ttYk
Quite in-depth stuff, well researched and informative. My only criticism is that the English is awful. Why is it that writers for online publications don’t require any qualifications in English whatsoever?
Surely this publication has an editor and, having achieved that exalted position, one would think that a basic knowledge of English grammar was a pre-requisite. Obviously not. Obviously I am just old fashioned in wanting to set the youth a good example. It’s no wonder there are record numbers of illiterate people when you only need to be semi-literate to be a writer.
Read my blog at: whysayanything.wordpress.com
Shouldn’t there be a comma after “Obviously” and “people”
I am not going to read your blog, but I can see the title “Why Say Anything” there. The reason to say something is not so that it can be said correctly. The reason is to make a point.
Sounds like the “independent” head of the reform committee isn’t unbiased, and unfortunately it’s in favor of the existing power structure…
Well there goes that…maybe after the Russia world cup turns into a farce we can revisit reform…
Blatter is being unfairly criticized in the sense that corruption is never about only one person..
What’s the cliche? “Tip of the iceberg” I think. Carrard should be careful about what he wishes for.