Saturday, May 25, 2013

Neymar to decide between Barcelona and Real Madrid

anwarasistrans

Neymar has revealed he will take time to choose his next club after Santos accepted bids for the forward on Friday.

The Brazil international, 21, has been subject to intense interest from Barcelona in recent weeks, and it is widely believed that both the Blaugrana and Real Madrid are behind the offers for the starlet.

And Neymar - who described learning that the bids had been accepted as "the happiest moment of my life" - insists he will take his time over the decision of where he will ply his trade.

"It’s an honour, this is the happiest moment of my life and I am going to give a lot of thought to the two offers," Neymar told reporters in Brazil.

"I’m going to make this decision with my family, there’s no rush. I could make my decision in five minutes, half an hour or three days. My family will help decide what's best for me."

Neymar has long courted interest from a plethora of European giants, with Bayern Munich and Chelsea having both been linked with the player in the past along with the Spanish duo.

The Selecao starlet was named in the longlist for the 2013 Ballon d'Or which was ultimately won by Lionel Messi ahead of his Barca team-mate Andres Iniesta and Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

Neymar is also part of Luiz Felipe Scolari's squad for the up-coming Confederations Cup, which kicks off in Brazil in June.

Mikel return from hip injury

anwarasistrans
Chelsea fielded Mikel Obifor the full 90 minutes in the first of two high friendly matches against Manchester City on Thursday (Friday, Nigerian time).The Europa League winners raced to three goal lead by the 60th minute but were brought down to earth by City’s four goals reply. Mikel was playing for the first time after a hip injury that kept him out of the last three weeks of the 2012/13 season. He was paired in central midfield by Chelsea U-18 player, Ruben Loftus-Cheek. The Nigerian who has asked to be dropped from the Super Eagles friendly match against Mexico on May 31 spear headed the first goal as his pass from deep released Yossi Benayoun who then passed on to Juan Mata to deliver the cross from which Demba B scored with a header. Coach Stephen Keshi had stated that he was not sure about the midfielder’s fitness but having featured for all of 90 minutes against City, the Super Eagles coach can be rest assured that Mikel will be ready for Kenya on June 5. England internationals, Gary Cahill, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole will be excused from the second friendly slated for Saturday to prepare with their national team as they prosecute friendly matches against Republic of Ireland and Brazil.