Neymar-PSG switch doubts grow in Barca

No Real deal for Mbappe: Monaco

MADRID, July 26, (Agencies): Confusion surrounding the Neymar-Paris Saint-Germain transfer saga was rife in Barcelona on Wednesday, with the player staying silent on his future.

“Doubts, doubts and more doubts,” ran the headline on the front page of Catalan daily Sport, above a photo of the striker lost deep in thought.

Barca centre-back Gerard Pique had sparked panic after appearing to backtrack on his ‘he stays’ tweet about his team-mate.

PSG are trying to lure the 25-yearold Brazilian to France and are ready to pay his 222-million-euro ($256.8 million) release clause to make him the best-paid and most expensive 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 pre-season 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.”

Fans in the city were not too confident about Neymar’s future and seemed to be fed up with the whole saga. “If you are offered double by another company, then you will go,” said Salvador Pons, president of the Blaugrana fans’ association.

“Even if your colleagues say ‘no, don’t leave, don’t leave’. Even to France, which is not at the same level as the Spanish Liga.”

Neymar departed the MetLife stadium without addressing reporters after scoring a brace in a 2-1 pre-season friendly win over Juventus in New Jersey on Saturday.

“The situation is eroding confidence at the club,” columnist Tomas Andreu wrote in the newspaper Sport. “What really hurts here is the silence of the player himself, which in the end says a great deal.”

Monaco insisted on Wednesday that no deal with Real Madrid has been reached for teenage French international striker Kylian Mbappe.

Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev also said in a press conference the principality club were in discussions with Mbappe over a new contract extension.

The 18-year-old has been the subject of intense transfer speculation linking him to a world-record 180-million-euro ($210m, £160m) move, with Spanish sports daily Marca reporting on Tuesday that a fee had been agreed between Real and the French Ligue 1 champions.

“I have read a lot of things in the press,” said Vasilyev.

“So far we have not signed any agreements with Real or any other club. All big clubs want him, he’s the great hope of European football.

“We are in discussions over a contract extension with Kylian and we hope to reach an agreement.”

When pushed further on whether Mbappe, whose current contract runs until 2019, would leave or sign a new deal, the Russian said: “No, he should not go. “Why should he do it? He is a player that everyone will want, even if he has a year left, everyone will be on him.”

Mbappe burst onto the scene last season as he helped Leonardo Jardim’s side claim their first French league title since 2000 and reach the Champions League semi-finals.

The pacy forward scored 15 Ligue 1 goals and six in as many starts in Europe, all of which came in the Champions League knock-out stages.

Having been linked with possible moves to a host of top clubs, Real had appeared to be on the brink of getting their man.

But Vasilyev insisted that Mbappe needed to be given time to make a decision of that magnitude at such a young age.

“There is too much media pressure around him,” he added.

“It’s not easy for him, but he handles it well... We want to take the time to chat quietly with the player and his family.

Burnley have signed defender Phil Bardsley from Stoke City on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee, the Lancashire-based Premier League club said on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old Scotland international returns to Turf Moor where he spent a month on loan in the Championship in 2006.

“I’ve had different spells and different clubs since then and I’m delighted to be back,” Bardsley told the club website.

“It’s a club that’s going in the right direction with a fantastic manager and a great group of players which I’m looking forward to being part of.” Bardsley has also played for Sunderland and Manchester United and spent the last three seasons at Stoke.

Midfielder Ross Barkley has no future at Everton after rejecting the Premier League club’s contract offer, manager Ronald Koeman said on Wednesday.

Barkley, 23, scored five goals and provided eight assists in the league last season as Everton finished seventh, but has refused to extend his stay at the club after entering the final year of his contract.

Koeman told Barkley in May that he would be sold if he did not accept the contract on offer. He said on Wednesday that Everton had not received any bids for the player, who is currently recovering after groin surgery.

“His situation is not too difficult, we made a good offer of a contract, he declined and told me that he is looking for a new challenge,” Koeman told reporters before Everton’s Europa League qualifier first leg against Slovakia’s Ruzomberok on Thursday. “It is really clear. I am looking to other players — that is my priority and not Ross, with all respect, because it is his decision. Everybody knows what the situation is. He told me at the end of last season,” he said.

“He has one more year on his

Neymar #11 of Barcelona is tripped by Claudio Marchisio #8 of Juventus in the first half during the International Champions Cup 2017 on July 22 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New

Jersey. (AFP)

contract and we work with respectful people. And after his surgery, if he is back for training, he will be part of the first team sessions. There have been no changes - he has been the same.”

Everton have signed eight players ahead of the new season, but Koeman wants three more as he aims to replace long-term absentee Ramirez Funes Mori (knee) and striker Romelu Lukaku, who has joined Manchester United.

“We lost Funes Mori to injury, we are looking to replace him,” he added. “We lost Lukaku, so we try to get another in and maybe one more.”

The manager also confirmed the Everton’s pursuit of Swansea City midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, but said he did not know if the club would table another bid.

“Of course we have interest in the player,” Koeman added.

British media reported that Everton have had bids of 40 million pounds ($52.2 million) and 45 million pounds for the Iceland international rejected by Swansea.

Bayern Munich coach Carlo Ancelotti said Wednesday he would not be rushed into a decision about Renato Sanches’s future and they would sit down together after the preseason.

It came after the Portuguese midfielder reportedly conceded Tuesday he was unhappy at Bayern and expressed an interest in AC Milan.

The 19-year-old, who has had a poor first season at the German champions, told German media that he was not satisfied as he was not playing enough at Bayern.

Both AC Milan and Manchester United have been rumoured to be chasing him.

Speaking in Singapore where Bayern have been playing a series of pre-season games, Ancelotti said that “Renato is with us.”

Lille continued their spending spree under new coach Marcelo Bielsa by making Brazilian midfielder Thiago Maia their 12th closeseason signing on Tuesday.

The Ligue 1 outfit confirmed Maia’s arrival from Santos, with French newspaper La Voix du Nord reporting a club-record transfer fee of 14 million euros ($16.32m).

The 20-year-old played three times as Brazil won the 2016 Olympic gold medal on home soil, alongside the likes of Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos and Barcelona star Neymar, who has been linked with a move to the French capital.

“I’ve worked hard since I was a little boy to be able to one day realise this dream of coming to play in Europe,” Maia said in a statement on the Lille website.

Maia joins his compatriots Luiz Araujo and Thiago Mendes in signing for Lille since former Marseille coach Bielsa took over in June.

French midfielder Jordan Veretout has joined Fiorentina on a fouryear deal from English side Aston Villa, the Serie A club announced in a statement on their website on Tuesday.

Fiorentina said that Veretout had signed a contract with an option for a fifth year, while British media reported the transfer fee to be seven million euros ($8.16m).

The 24-year-old spent last season on loan at French outfit SaintEtienne after parent club Villa were relegated from the Premier League, scoring four goals in 43 appearances.