Santos have revealed that they turned down approaches from Barcelona and Chelsea for their star player, Neymar.
Club president Paulo Schiff revealed the offers in an interview with El Pais and stated his intention to hold onto the player for the rest of his career.
“In 30 years, no Brazilian club have been able to keep hold of a great player, except for ourselves with Neymar,” said Schiff.
“We refused proposals from Barcelona, Chelsea and other clubs. We want him to have a great career at Santos just like Pele did during his time.”
Neymar has insisted he wants to stay at Santos until at least 2014, the year in which Brazil is due to host the World Cup.
The striker is keen to experience European football at some point, but Santos will hope that the time he is ready to move arrives later rather than sooner.
Still just 20 years old, Neymar has already won 27 caps for Brazil and picked up the Copa Libertadores in 2011 with Santos.
Source: El Pais
