Neymar to Chelsea transfer: Expert confirms PSG stance and what really happened in Todd Boehly, Al-Khelaifi talks

Ben Jacobs has told TEAMtalk what Paris Saint-Germain really think about the prospect of selling Neymar in the summer amid links with Chelsea.

Neymar was the subject of the most expensive transfer in football history when he joined PSG from Barcelona in 2017. Since his €222million move, he has won four Ligue 1 titles, as well as eight other domestic trophies in France.

Now aged 31, Neymar still has something left in the tank at the top level. However, his future with PSG has become uncertain, per recent reports.

There have been suggestions that PSG would be willing to sell him. In that case, Chelsea have been touted as likely bidders, because Todd Boehly has met with PSG counterpart Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

However, insider Jacobs has informed TEAMtalk that there have not been any talks between the two owners about a transfer for Neymar, since they only crossed paths briefly.

“With Neymar, PSG’s stance is not for sale, and they deny that any talks took place during the Champions League game with Bayern Munich between Todd Boehly and Chelsea and Nasser Al-Khelaifi and PSG surrounding a transfer of Neymar,” said Jacobs.

“And, whereas last summer Neymar was probably a possibility on the market, but nobody came in and he had big wages, his form now has been so excellent at PSG that I think they’re even more hardened on that stance that they don’t want him to go.

“You will see some reports out there that say they discussed Neymar. But my understanding with that in the last 48 hours or so, is that somewhere near the Arc de Triomphe, at a luxury hotel, a very quick hello was said, but there was no lunch, as is reported between Al-Khelaifi and Todd Boehly because Al-Khelaifi was having lunch with 15 people as part of the Bayern Munich contingent before the game. And then he spent the rest of the day with the Emir of Qatar.

“So it is true that for a few minutes, Todd Boehly and Al-Khelaifi met in very much an informal sense. But it’s not logical if they met for that short space of time and it was not planned as a meeting that anything significant on Neymar was discussed.

“And I still think that Chelsea have got other priorities in terms of their summer spending above Neymar. And if they don’t get Champions League football, it’s going to be very difficult to move anything Neymar forward.

“So there’s nothing significant at least as far as PSG sources are saying on Neymar, Chelsea and that interaction between Boehly and Nasser Al-Khelaifi is being very firmly downplayed.”

Ziyech saga may have scuppered Chelsea hopes for Neymar

Even if Neymar was on the market, Chelsea might not be the club PSG would prefer to sell to. After all, Jacobs has pointed back to Hakim Ziyech’s failed move in the opposite direction as something that has deteriorated the relationship between the two clubs.

“And let’s not forget that relations between Chelsea and PSG are not brilliant at this point because of the Hakim Ziyech saga, where PSG were waiting for paperwork from Chelsea that unfortunately came late,” added the reporter.

“Chelsea put that down to a technical error. PSG have got a slightly different narrative but either way Ziyech is still a Chelsea player. And PSG are not too happy about it. So relations are not exactly at a great point, just weeks after that, to be kicking off Neymar discussions.

“So PSG would like to keep Neymar. And I think that therefore, the idea that any transfer is being advanced at this point is premature.”

Across his whole spell with PSG, Neymar has contributed 117 goals from 172 appearances. This season, he has played 28 times in all competitions, scoring 17 goals and assisting 16 more.

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