FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have had a monopoly on the Neymar Jr. transfer rumors but that is beginning to come to an end as a Premier League team has now entered the race to sign the Paris Saint-Germain forward.
According to Don Balon (so take this report with a grain of salt), Chelsea FC is eager to spend in the summer transfer window after their transfer ban, per ESPN, kept them out of the market for more than a year.
The Blues won the UEFA Europa League last season and have been saving up to make a big splash once their ban is lifted. The €100 million sale of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid last summer, per The Guardian, only added to their war chest.
The report states that the Chelsea board is willing to give manager Frank Lampard a boost next summer by way of bringing Neymar to Stamford Bridge. The Londoners have relied primarily on young talent to win matches this season and signing a player of Neymar’s quality and experience would raise expectations considerably.
Last summer, Sport (via Barca Blaugranes) reported that PSG lowered their asking price for Neymar to €180 million, which should be doable for Chelsea but they may need to include a player to make the numbers work. Again, in the Don Balon report, they have the Blues including Callum Hudson-Odoi in a potential transfer.
The 19-year-old left-winger isn’t seeing as much playing time as he would like due to the emergence of Christian Pulisic so he may welcome a change of scenery.
Transfermarkt puts Hudson-Odoi’s market value at €35 million, making the overall deal for Neymar a little easier for Chelsea to pull off with PSG. Whether the Brazilian wants to live in London and play with a bunch of kids remains to be seen.
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