Neymar, 20, is the undisputed king of Brazilian football at present and remains in his homeland with Santos, expressing his wish to remain until after the 2014 World Cup.
Following the arrival of new director of football Txiki Begiristain, formerly of Barcelona, the Sunday People report that the Italian will make Neymar his number one request for next summer.
The duo will meet for the first time next week, with Mancini’s job the subject of great speculation in recent times, and the report suggests that the Italian will tell Begiristain to make Neymar a City player next summer.
Mancini told the newspaper: “I don’t know if it is true that Barcelona have already made a down-payment for Neymar.
“I think when Txiki starts to work here next week we can start to talk about the future for us because this is very important.
“Neymar is a Santos player and I don’t know what can happen with him in the future.
“But I am very happy to work now with the new sporting director because he gives us the chance to move very quickly regarding some players.
“If we work well together then the next three or four years for Manchester City can be very strong.”
