Neymar: “An honour to play for Chelsea!”

Summer target and media labelled “Brazilian Wonder kid” Neymar has spoken out with regard to our already admitted pursuit of the player: "It would be great to get the chance to play for Chelsea. I feel excited about it."

The comments may surprise some, given that quotes attributed to him in the media during the summer along the lines of “Why would I want to join Chelsea?!” indicated everything but a burning desire to make the trip to west London.  What he did say was:

"I don't know if I will stay or depart but I don't wish to leave a championship team like Santos to be placed on the reserve team of Chelsea or any other foreign team.”

Promises made?

Presumably the 18 year-old has been assured of at least a decent crack playing for the first team for such a change in attitude?

The media claim that we made a £25million bid for Neymar in the summer which was promptly rejected by Santos as his buy-out clause stands at £29.6 million.

Nevertheless, Neymar´s current comments suggest his agent is pressuring for the move and a deal for next summer is already being brokered.

"To play for Chelsea would be an honour. Everything they have to offer is attractive to me.

"They have big players, they are in big competitions, they have a strong squad and I like the way they play.

"Top players want to be part of something like that. I'm no different. But I'm happy at Santos.

"If I left it wouldn't be because Santos isn't a good place to be but only because the Premier League is a higher level.

"It wasn't the right time for me to go in the summer but I will be much better prepared for it by next year."

Ancelotti praise

Carlo Ancelotti was originally guarded in his comments about the potential signing but revealed that he was interested:

"I can only speak about his technical quality," said Ancelotti.

"He is a fantastic player. We are interested in all the young players that come through all over the world and Neymar is one of these but this doesn't mean we have to buy this player."

Competition for signature

All the usual clubs such as Man Utd and other continental bug guns such as Real Madrid are supposed to be after him.

Many Chelsea fans are concerned about the stability of such a youngster from Brazil in London.  He´ll need a lot of looking after.