Manchester City head coach Josep Guardiola denied press reports on Wednesday that French club Paris Saint-Germain had offered Brazilian star Neymar to the City in a player swap deal.
“Sorry for the newspaper, but this is not true,” said the Catalan coach at a press conference timed to coincide with his team’s pre-season tour in the United States.
“I’m sorry, but the information they received is completely wrong,” he added.
Guardiola cited an article in Le Parisien newspaper that claimed that Neymar, who moved to the Parisian capital with a record deal (222 million euros) no longer desirable, could be used as a bargaining chip in exchange for a player from City.
Pep Guardiola on Neymar’s ties to Manchester City: Sorry, but that’s not true. Their information is wrong, Neymar is an incredible player and my information is an incredibly good guy. But it’s wrong” ???????????? @SunMartinB#MCFC
“City is going to buy 150 players every summer!” pic.twitter.com/p7e2SCTsSz
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 20, 2022
The article elaborates that “the club, which is coached by Pep Guardiola, quickly reacted by denying this possibility. The Spaniard does not want to create defects in the construction of his group in connection with the arrival of a star of this caliber.
In the same context, Guardiola added: “Neymar is a great player and from what I have, he is a very good person. So leave him alone and let him show his wonderful talent in Paris”, complaining that “every summer (they say) Manchester City will sign 150 players”.
City stepped up even before the winter transfer market opened with the signing of Norwegian national team striker Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.
German goalkeeper Stefan Ortega Moreno of Armenia Bielefeld, English international midfielder Kelvin Phillips of Leeds United and 22-year-old Argentine striker Julián Alvarez, who bought him last season but remained with his former Argentine side River Plate on loan, before joining To City this summer.
On the other hand, the English champions turned down Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal and Raheem Sterling to Chelsea.
Source: AFP