“When Neymar would like to leave Santos, Barcelona will be there to try to sign him, because it’s what our sporting directors want,” said club vice-president Jose Maria Bartomeu to local television channel Barcelona Televisio.
Neymar, 21 years old, is under contract with Santos until 2014, and has stated his desire to stay with the club until then.
The Spanish press have reported a pre-contract agreement between Neymar and the Catalan giants, and suggested that there was a 10 million euro payment between the clubs in Barcelona’s annual accounts, but sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta denied this was the case.
Real Madrid would also be keen on signing the Brazilian, and he has also been linked at various points with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City in the Premier League.
