Neymar rejects Chelsea to sign for Barcelona

Posted Wednesday, March 21, 2012 by Talksport.co.uk

Barcelona have won the race to sign Brazil prodigy Neymar - and reports claim he will sign for them for around £50m in 2014.

The Santos forward is one of the most sought after stars in the world and the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Real Madrid have all claimed an interest in him.

But it appears Barcelona have done enough to convince Neymar to join them, having agreed a deal in principle to pay Santos a quarter of the transfer fee now and then the rest when he moves to Europe.

Neymar has spoken of his eagerness to remain in South America for now - something that Barcelona are willing to adhere to - and such an agreement has swung the deal in the Catalan club's favour.

Spanish radio station Cadena SER claim the transfer is a done deal, with Neymar, 20 set to move to the Nou Camp for the 2014/2015 season.

Wagner Ribeiro, Neymar's agent, helped broker the deal and Barcelona were keen to push things forward when it appeared that Real Madrid were ready to make their move.

Madrid's failure to land Neymar will lead them to Lucas, the Sao Paulo star that has been tracked by Manchester United.