Although it is being widely reported that Neymar Jr will be moving to Barcelona in the ongoing transfer window, Portugal football veteran Cristiano Ronaldo thinks otherwise. Ronaldo expects his friend Neymar to remain with his present club Paris-Saint Germain (PSG).
It is to be noted that Neymar has been attracting a lot of transfer rumours ever since the transfer window has opened. He also told his PSG coach Thomas Tuchel that he wanted to leave the club before Copa America. However, nothing concrete has materialised yet.
There were reports that Barcelona have offered €100 million as well as a couple of players to rope in their former star back into their team. Meanwhile, there were also reports that Ronaldo’s former club, Real Madrid, is also interested in getting Neymar in their squad. However, the Portugal star still believes that Neymar is most likely to stay with Paris Saint-Germain.
“I don’t know. He’s a great player and I get along with him very well. There is a lot of talk about him, for Madrid, Barca, Juve.” Ronaldo told Marca, a Spanish media outlet dedicated to sports.
“It is the job of the press, because you have to sell papers, but I think he will stay in Paris and, if not, look for where he is happy and where he can express his football.” he added.
“I hope he will avoid injuries, because he has had a lot of them and that must worry him.
“I worry because I like to see the boy playing. Regardless of where he plays, [it is important he] takes care of himself and has no injuries. That’s what I want for him,” he further stated.
Ronaldo had left La Liga to join the Italian club Juventus. The 34-year-old forward is now prepping up for his second season with Juventus and the first one under new manager Maurizio Sarri. Maurizio has insisted that he will give Ronaldo a lot of freedom on the pitch.
However, CR7 insisted that he would not neglect his defensive duties.
“I will do the same thing I did in Madrid or in my first year at Juve or for Portugal: I will defend and close spaces,” he said.
“I’ll be an attacker with freedom but I have to work defensively because only with everyone involved can a team win important things,” he added.