De Ligt to Bayern Munich… and speculation over Neymar’s future with St Germain

At a time when clubs are on the move in the transfer market, German champions Bayern Munich have reached an agreement to offload the services of Dutch international defender Matthijs de Ligt for €70 million. And after the striker moved Argentina international Paulo Dybala to Rome on a free transfer, the focus is on Brazilian Neymar and his knowledge of his fate. Should he leave or stay at French champions Saint-Germain?

Neymar’s future has sparked much speculation since Paris Saint-Germain decided to end his “luxury era” at the club, waiting for things to become clear, but the Brazilian star is acting as if nothing has happened and is aware of the obstacles surrounding the possibility. leaving

With Christophe Galtier at the helm of the French champions’ technical management, discipline has been set as a core value and Neymar, whose lifestyle has often come under criticism, knows he is in the crosshairs.

On June 21, the head of the Qatari Parisian Club, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, said: “We no longer need luxury and extravagant living… this is the end of extravagance,” implying that. Former Santos and Barcelona.

That was enough to fuel frequent speculation that the number 10, signed by Saint-Germain in 2017, would move from Barcelona for €222 million, the most expensive transfer in history.

De Ligt (Getty) from Juventus to Bayern

The center of gravity at Saint-Germain shifted to Kylian Mbappe after extending his contract until 2025, and the inability to touch the Argentine star Lionel Messi, Neymar (30 years old), whose Parisian career was ruined by serious injuries, is no longer considered. An essential element in the eyes of the decision-makers at the club, especially after a very disappointing season (13 goals and 8 assists in 28 games in all competitions), and yet another setback in the Champions League eluded the Parisian club. 16 against Real Madrid, then won the title.

And Saint-Germain are ready to return if a more satisfactory offer is made. But the equation is more complex, and the Brazilian, who has not shown a mad desire to leave Paris, is in a strong position in this regard.

Neymar knows that clubs are not lining up to match his astronomical salary (more than 4 million euros per month). After renewing his contract in 2021 until 2025, he activated two clauses to extend his deal by an additional two years (until 2027), according to French newspaper L’Equipe.

Neymar surprised Paris fans at the end of last season and did not hesitate to urge them: “I will stay because they will get tired of calling me.” The Brazilian reiterated the same tone at the end of last May, when he confirmed: “At the moment, I have not heard anything, but from my side, the truth is that I am staying.”

Galtier confirmed that Neymar is one of his future plans and explained this when he signed a supervisory contract for Saint-Germain at the end of last month: “Obviously I hope Neymar stays, because when you have world-class players, it’s better to have them with you, not against you.” . French Since arriving in Japan on Sunday for a ten-day tour with the capital club, Neymar has flashed a broad smile and willingly agreed to a number of marketing activities.

It had nothing to do with his wobbly situation in 2019 when he spent the summer training in China with his teammates, dragging his feet in the hope of stumbling back to Barcelona.

As the Qatar World Cup 2022 from November to December 18 approaches, Neymar’s interest does not seem to have changed. Instead, the Brazilian says he is more determined than ever to shine in what he sees as the “last” major event of his career as a footballer.

He recently said on his Facebook page during a live broadcast with his fans: “This season, all shots go in, free kicks, headers… I feel good. I am confident in myself and I trained a lot during my vacation.”

On the other hand, Bayern Munich, the German champions for the past ten seasons, have agreed a deal with Juventus to sign Dutch international defender Matthijs de Ligt for €70 million.

According to German newspaper “Bild” and “Sport1” channel, the transfer of the 22-year-old defender to Bayern will include an additional 10 million euros bonus to Juventus, the Bavarian giant based on some of the results the former Ajax defender achieves.

Bayern will use the proceeds from the transfer of Polish striker Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona, ​​valued at over €45m, to fund the signing process with De Ligt, who joined Juventus five times over from Ajax in the summer of 2019. The annual contract is worth 75 million euros.

It is reported that De Ligt has already arrived at Bayern Munich’s headquarters to undergo a medical, complete the contract formalities in time and join his new colleagues on the trip to America.

In a statement to Bild newspaper at the weekend, Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn admitted: “It’s true that we held talks (with Juventus). De Ligt is a very interesting player.

Bayern are trying to sign De Ligt to compensate for Niklas Zule’s departure to local rivals Borussia Dortmund at the end of last season.

Bayern Munich, led by coach Julian Nagelsmann, will spend a week in the United States for marketing activities and training, as well as playing two pre-season friendlies against Manchester City and DC United. Bayern Munich will play their first official match next July 30, where they will face Leipzig in the German Super Cup, and six days later, they will defend their league title against European League title holders Eintracht Frankfurt.

For that, Argentina international striker Paulo Dybala’s free transfer to Roma was settled after his contract with Juventus expired.

He spent seven seasons in Juventus colours, during which he won the Italian league five times in a row between 2016 and 2020, the Coppa Italia four times and the Super Cup three times, in addition to reaching the Champions League final in 2017. , Dybala will move to Roma after negotiations with Inter failed. And “Sky Italia” and “Cazzetta dello Sport” newspaper revealed that the deal with the ex-Palermo player has already been done thanks to Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho, who has persuaded the Argentine to join Roma more than once. Dybala finally agreed and yesterday sent a message to Mourinho on WhatsApp to inform him that he had made up his mind and decided to join the “Wolves”, according to “La Gazzetta dello Sport”, who traveled to Argentina on a trip. A private flight from Turin to Portugal, where the Italian capital team is currently present, to undergo a routine medical in preparation for the official announcement of the contract. Reliable Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio claimed yesterday that Dybala had agreed to a move to Rome, speeding up the process of signing the 28-year-old in light of local rivals Napoli’s interest in his services. Dybala was in Yemen to continue the journey with Juventus, but the latter stopped the negotiations between the two parties, as a result of the “old woman” management not wanting to give what the player’s agent demanded, especially in light of his long absence. due to injury.

Di Marcio said Dybala had agreed to a three-year deal with Roma for a net annual salary of six million euros. Dybala will become Roma’s fourth signing of the current transfer window, after Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic, goalkeeper Mile Svilar and defender Zaki Celik. Roma finished sixth in the Italian league last season and won the European Conference League title under coach Mourinho.