Will Neymar prove a Real head-turner?
NEYMAR arrives in Madrid today as only Neymar can, with a semi-naked photo and the Spanish prime minister commenting in the papers on whether Real Madrid should sign him.
For the record, Mariano Rajoy thinks Madrid should stay well clear. And that Instagram snap of Neymar lying in the back of a car, covered only by a towel, was taken by Mario Testino — one of Princess Diana’s favourite photographers. Last night it had been ‘liked’ by more than three million fans, with Marcelo, one of tonight’s opponents, among them.
For Real Madrid this is a strange sensation. They are not used to being left behind in the transfer market but it happened twice in the summer.
First, Neymar skipped out of f Barcelona into the arms of f Paris Saint- Germain for a world-record £198million. Then PSG cut a deal with Monaco to o take Kylian Mbappe on a toogood-to-be-true ‘buy now, pay later’ deal that helped them hurdle financial fair play rules. . It gave the French champions a forward line that made BaleBenzema-Ronaldo seem almost ordinary.
In the Spanish capital there e were feelings of fury and impotence. - Behind the scenes UEFA A were urged to kick PSG out of f the Champions League. But t there was an acceptance too o that Madrid just could not compete m- with a club powered by an n entire country, Qatar.
Not everyone at the Bernabeu u wants Neymar. Some echo the e sentiments of Rajoy, and feel el that football’s playboy prince ce would be out of place at such a traditional club.
Neymar’s PSG team- mate e Adrien Rabiot told L’Equipe this is week: ‘Inevitably Neymar has as privileges. It doesn’t bother me.’ e’
While it is fine for one player to be a law unto himself at a club who have never won the Champions League, would it work for him to behave that way at a club with 12 European Cups?
Some would not accept that their new signing was bigger than the club, as seems the case in Paris. Neymar has scored 28 goals in 27 games this season. But at Madrid he would be following Cristiano Ronaldo, a man who has managed a goal a game for five straight seasons and aside from a few tantrums, has turned up for every training session and given as much, usually more, than his team-mates.
So there is a divide. Real president Florentino Perez stands on one side knowing that the capture of Neymar would be the empire striking back — old money giving new money a clip round the ear and taking what is rightfully theirs: the signature of the world’s most expensive player.
And then there are those who believe Madrid should steer clear of a man who thinks nothing of holding the society event of the year to celebrate his birthday in the middle of the football season and who led Barcelona a merry dance in the summer — and would have to do the same at PSG to wriggle his way out of that five-year contract.
Just how hard Real Madrid push for Neymar over the next 18 months may be determined by what happens tonight. If he delivers a brilliant, but dignified, display that has the home supporters wanting to give him the sort of ovation they once gave Ronaldinho, then there will be a groundswell of public opinion pushing Perez to go to whatever lengths possible to ensure that Neymar wears the white shirt as soon as possible.
But if Neymar starts showboating with unnecessary rainbow kicks over Sergio Ramos’s head, the classic sit-down on the pitch with his boot off to break up play, and the occasional ‘sshhh’ gesture to the home supporters, then it might mark him out as a man who can never play here. REAL MADRID (4-3-3): Navas; Nacho, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo; Casemiro, Kroos, Modric; Bale, Ronaldo, Benzema. PSG (4-3-3): Areola; Alves, Marquinhos, Silva, Berchiche; Verratti, Diarra, Rabiot; Mbappe, Cavani, Neymar. Kick-off: 7.45pm, Bernabeu Stadium. Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy). TV: LIVE BT Sport 3 from 7pm.