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Neymar ‘desperate’ to join Real Madrid ahead of Barcelona… but there's one issue - pundit
NEYMAR will be desperate to join Real Madrid this summer instead of a return to Barcelona.
That is the opinion of ESPN FC pundit and former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley.
Neymar is being linked with a move away from Paris Saint-Germain after just two years in Ligue 1.
His time in France has been littered with controversy and injuries have ended both of his seasons early.
Barcelona are said to be interested in the 27-year-old after selling him to PSG for a world-record fee of £200million.
I think he’s desperate to go to the Bernabeu, I do
Rivals Real Madrid have also shown an interest in Neymar in the past.
Burley reckons the Brazil star would prefer a move to Real but says the fact they have already spent more than £250m on new signings this summer could make raising the finances needed difficult.
“I think he’s desperate to go to the Bernabeu, I do,” Burley said.
“I just think he’s desperate and I don’t know if it’s going to be possible with all the other things that have gone on there this year.
“They’ve spent an absolute fortune already.
“But I think in his head, in his head, he doesn’t want to go back and watching [Lionel] Messi score the amount of goals that he does, [Cristiano] Ronaldo’s not at Real Madrid anymore.
“And I think he sees himself as somebody who’s strutting around the Bernabeu.
“The problem is they’ve had a whole host of signings and haven’t got the money.”
Barcelona are also heavily linked with Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann.
But Burley says they should look at re-signing Neymar ahead of the France star.
“Neymar [over Griezmann], it’s pretty simple,” he added.
“As long as his head is screwed on, which it doesn’t seem to be at the moment.”