Neymar PSG switch doubts grow
Gerard Pique has sparked panic at Barcelona after appearing to backtrack on his ‘he stays’ tweet on teammate Neymar, target of a blockbuster transfer by Paris Saint Germain.
“Doubts, doubts and more doubts,” ran the headline Wednesday on the front page of Catalan daily Sport above a photo of the striker lost deep in thought.
PSG are trying to lure the 25-year-old Brazilian to France and are ready to pay off his 222 million euro ($256.8 million) release clause and make the player the best-paid footballer on the planet.
Last week Pique took to social media to say “he’s staying” - but when pressed on the matter Tuesday ahead of a preseason friendly in the United States against Manchester United he was less sure of himself. “It’s a personal opinion from the conversation that I had with him and my intuition,” Pique said.
“But it’s not official,” he added. “And it’s not for me to say if he’s going to stay or not.”
Pique said his post hadn’t ruffled
Neymar. “I was with Neymar and his friends in his room last night and he’s not angry at all,” Pique said. “On the contrary, he’s happy. “We’ve been speaking to him. We have a close relationship, not only as teammates but also as friends,” added Pique, who said he didn’t believe Neymar’s contemplation of a move was a matter of money.
The position sent a shudder down the spine at Barcelona. “Pique retracts and feeds the uncertainty,” the newspaper Sport said. “The situation is eroding confidence at the club,” columnist Tomas Andreu wrote in Sport.
“What really hurts here is the silence of the player himself, which in the end says a great deal.”
Neymar departed the stadium without addressing reporters after starring in a 2-1 win over Juventus on Saturday.
“They (the club) did not expect the negotiations with PSG and the player to go this far,” he said.
At the same press conference, the Argentine defender Javier Mascherano said he had told Neymar to carefully weigh up the pros and cons.
Mascherano added all the players, including Lionel Messi, had spoken the player to ask him to stay.
“He has to put things in the balance,” Mascherano said. “What Pique says is the feeling of all of us, we want him to stay. We all want him to stay.”
I was with Neymar in his room last night and he’s not angry at all. We’ve been speaking to him. We have a close relationship, not only as teammates but also as friends