Manchester City, the club with the biggest spending power in the
Barclays Premier League, have made the first move in the race to sign Brazilian
star Neymar.
City’s top two executives Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain are
said to have held initial talks with Neymar’s family and his representatives in
a box at Wembley on the night of England’s friendly against Brazil on February
6.
Chief executive Soriano and director of football Begiristain were
guests of the FA in the VIP Wembley suite for the 150th anniversary match.
But the pair went to the trouble
of visiting the IMG hospitality box - located on the other side of the stadium
- in order to make contact with the Neymar camp and were spotted during their
half-circuit of the corporate areas.
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| Neymar da Silva |
Sports management giants IMG are understood to have been
entertaining Neymar’s father Neymar da Silva and the £55m-rated player’s
marketing team from IMX Talent. The company is a joint venture with IMG to
exploit sports business opportunities in Brazil.
They took control of Neymar’s off-field image rights and career
guidance last July. He is under contract at Brazilian side Santos until the
2014 World Cup which takes place in Brazil
The 21-year-old striker is expected to make his inevitable
big-money move to Europe that summer, after a tournament which could
dramatically increase his value.
There was much hype surrounding Neymar’s appearance in this
country earlier this month, but despite playing 90 minutes at Wembley the
youngster failed to impress as England deservedly won the friendly 2-1.
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| Manchester City FC Logo |
That has not deterred top clubs like Barcelona from wanting to
sign him and the Spanish giants are seen as one of the favourites for his
signature.
But Abu Dhabi-owned City can afford to offer Neymar a similar
package or better and have put down the first marker.
It also might be relevant that Spanish compatriots Soriano and
Begiristain used to work together at Barcelona - reported to be the
preferred choice of Neymar senior for his son - and could persuade the family
to make the move to Manchester instead.
