A Mohican-sporting young punk renewing a contract with his club in Brazil shouldnâÂÂt really be moving any mountains in Spain, but thatâÂÂs whatâÂÂs happening on Wednesday, with 'Real Madrid starlet' Neymar hitting the headlines and causing a right old stir in the Spanish capital.
Technically speaking, itâÂÂs Santos starlet Neymar who is talk of the town, though if all the Madrid media's headlines of the previous four months were to be believed, it was merely a matter of time before Florentino Pérez would be unveiling his âÂÂanti-Messiâ - whether José Mourinho wanted the striker or not.
Images of Neymar surrounded by four portly gentleman (who are no doubt all set to make a lot of money out of the forward) were headline stuff for SpainâÂÂs TV channels on Tuesday evening, with the Brazilian having renewed his club contract with Santos until 2014, most likely scuppering any plans Real Madrid - or indeed, Barcelona may have had to bag the forward for a wee while.
MarcaâÂÂs unique interpretation of the renewal is that Neymar is infact doing a favour to Santos president Luis Alvaro de Oliveira, who faces an election on 2 December, with the paper latching onto an admission from Neymar during the press conference that âÂÂnobody knows what will happen tomorrow.âÂÂ
Neymar's game of peek-a-boo with Real Madrid is over...for now
The paperâÂÂs rivals, AS, have all but given up on Neymar coming to Madrid, but claim that the setback is for economic reasons, with the Brazilian league now having just as much economic pulling power as Europe. âÂÂThe problem is that it is no longer so easy to get players from Brazil as it has been up to now,â claims AS editor Alfredo Relaño.
Meadwhile, Mad Tomás Roncero believes Madrid have dodged a bullet, writing that, although Neymar and the footballerâÂÂs many sponsors were a target for the club president, the love for the signing was not widespread around Mordor. âÂÂNeymar was not a desired signing for Madridismo,â says the AS man. âÂÂPaying â¬60 million for an adolescent who could just as easily end up a fiasco as a star seems madness.âÂÂ
The dailies over in the Catalan capital have spun NeymarâÂÂs contract renewal as both a huge defeat for Pérez and a great victory for Sandro Rosell. But this kind of reporting should come as no surprise. As recently as earlier this week, Sport reported the latest quotes from Zlatan IbrahimovicâÂÂs upcoming book, but somehow managed to omit the Swedish maverick's claims that âÂÂGuardiola in not capable of managing strong personalities.â A simple editorial error, LLL is sure.
âÂÂNeymar waits for Barçaâ reveals the same newspaper, boasting that âÂÂRosell manages his objective of blocking the move to Madrid and winning time to negotiate,â through using the Barça presidentâÂÂs contacts and influence in BrazilâÂÂs football world.
Joan Batlle chuckles that âÂÂFlorentino wonâÂÂt be able to present Neymar in January and if this year thereâÂÂs no title either, he will be without umbrellas...and be careful as the storm would be huge.âÂÂ
If thatâÂÂs the case, then LLL suggests that Rihanna might be a more useful winter window signing than the wet-behind-the-ears Brazilian...
