LONDON, 7-2022 (AFP) — Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, the English football champion, denied press reports on Wednesday that Paris Saint-Germain had offered the Citizens their Brazilian star Neymar as part of a swap deal. players.
“It is not true. I feel sorry for them, but their information was incorrect, ”said the Catalan coach at a press conference timed to coincide with his team’s pre-season tour of the United States.
Guardiola cited an article in Le Parisien newspaper that claimed that Neymar, who moved to the Parisian capital with a record deal (222 million euros) no longer desirable, could be used as a bargaining chip in exchange for a player from City.
The article elaborates that “the club, which is coached by Pep Guardiola, quickly rejected this possibility. The Spaniard does not want to disrupt the formation of his group in connection with the arrival of a star of this caliber.
Josep Guardiola announces the completion of the deal with Oleksandr Zinchenko: “He goes to Arsenal, Manchester City” manager confirms. #AFK
deal signed, second part of get medical treatment and then official statement.@footballdaily rice.twitter.com/pYNGVBLrfb
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 20, 2022
In the same race, Guardiola added: “Neymar is a great player and according to the information I have, he is a very good person. So leave him alone and let him show his wonderful talent in Paris”, complaining that “every summer (they say) Manchester City will sign 150 players”.
And City stepped up even before the winter transfer market opened, signing Norwegian national team striker Erling Halland from Borussia Dortmund. German goalkeeper Stefan Ortega Moreno from Armenian Bielefeld, English international midfielder Calvin Phillips from Leeds United and 22-year-old Argentine striker Julian Alvarez, who bought him last season but stayed on loan with his former Argentine side River Plate before joining City this year. summer.
On the other hand, the English champions turned down Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal and Raheem Sterling to Chelsea.
