The Blues have been courting Neymar for some time now and had a bid rejected last summer, but according to The Sun, club owner Roman Abramovich is set to present Santos with a bid of £23 million. Neymar has previously spoken of his desire to move to Europe, and has also attracted interest from Real Madrid.
However, The Sun is convinced he will be making the move to England, claiming that a Chelsea source said: “Roman [Abramovich] is ready to get personally involved to clinch the signing of Neymar. He"s aiming to talk with him next month to prove how much he is wanted."
Brazil coach Mano Menezes has been talking up the ability of the young star, and told Globoesporte: “For me, a ‘crack" is someone who decides the game when everyone expects him to. Neymar is without a doubt heading towards becoming one of these."
He continued: “Now, to become this crack we believe he has the potential to be, he has to show his skills at the next level. The opportunities are going to come now with the Brazil team, with Santos in the Libertadores because they are extremely demanding situations. Things will start happening now on another level for him."
The young striker rejected any claims of a move to Stamford Bridge last summer, stating that he felt he was not yet ready to leave Santos. However, earlier this year, he said that it was his ‘dream" to play in Europe, and specifically with Chelsea. He has helped Santos to the semi-finals of the 2011 Copa Libertadores, where they currently lead Cerro Porteno 1-0 from the first leg.
