Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar looks to be heading to the Saudi Pro League after Al-Hilal have been reported to have agreed a mega money deal with the player and club.
The Brazilian forward will be the biggest Ligue 1 name to leave for Saudi Arabia and, according to the French football media the deal could complete over the next few days. PSG are set to receive 90m Euros for their man while Neymar has agreed a two year contract worth an eye watering 160m Euros. And at 31 years of age this is unlikely to be Neymar’s swansong!
After moving from Barcelona Neymar spent six years at PSG, picking up five league titles and four Coupe de France medals, scoring 118 goals in a lethal front three containing Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe. But he was never on great terms with the fans, or indeed Mbappe, and he has been out of action since March after undergoing knee surgery.
Neymar was not the only player missing from PSG’s opening match, a 0-0 draw with Lorient at the Parc des Princes, as Mbappe, who has been the subject of frenzied transfer speculation, was also un-named. But in a big U-Turn the Parisiens have made yet more Ligue 1 2023 news by re-introducing Mbappe to the squad with a suggestion that he is now happy to stay. Reports have emerged that the club is willing to extend his contract to 2025 and the player will agree, on the proviso that he will definitely be allowed to leave next summer.
Now that Argentine legend Messi has gone to the USA to play for Inter Miami, and Neymar is approaching the exit door, the battle of egos has subsided at the Parc des Princes; and that may have had some bearing on the situation. The SBOTOP odds are backing another title win for the Parisiens and the Ligue 1 2023 betting odds will continue to shift towards Paris if Mbappe stays.
There is another player who looks set to leave Paris though, as Marco Verratti was also left out of the squad for the game against Lorient. Like Neymar, Verratti has informed the club of his intention to leave this summer. Premier League big spenders Chelsea were reported to be interested in bringing the 30 year old Italian to Stamford Bridge, but that interest seems to have cooled and now it seems that Al-Hilal may be plotting a second swoop on the French capital in a matter of days.
One thing is for certain. Life is never dull at Paris Saint-Germain!
Monaco, Marseille and Rennes make a winning start
While the reigning champions drew and PSG’s money men worked furiously behind the scenes (as always) their main rivals made a winning start at the weekend in some serious French heat.
Clermont Foot 2-4 Monaco
Wissam Ben Yedder scored a brace as he captained Monaco to a thrilling 4-2 win away to Clermont Foot, in Adi Hutter’s first game in charge of the club. As the hosts flew out of the blocks Clermont’s top striker Grejohn Kyei came close to scoring twice in the opening minutes, but Clermont did take a lead when Mateusz Wieteska powered home a header on seven minutes. Monaco levelled when Vanderson scored after a brilliant one-two with Takumi Minamino and Ben Yedder put the Principality in charge just before the break.
Monaco won the second half too, again by 2-1, as Ben Yedder scored his second goal of the game after Muhammed Cham had levelled for Clermont, and any thoughts of another comeback from the hosts was ended when Maghnes Akliouche made it 4-2 in injury time.
Rennes 5-1 Metz
Stades Rennes started their campaign with a bang and gave newly promoted Metz plenty to think about in a 5-1 rout in Brittany. With last season’s top two sides missing out, PSG drawing with Lorient and 2023 runners up RC Lens losing at Stade Brest, Rennes made a big splash on the opening day. Substitute Ibrahim Salah scored twice to add to strikes from Arnaud Kalimuendo, Amine Gouiri and Jeremy Doku as last year’s fourth place finishers ran riot.
Youssef Maziz briefly levelled for Metz before Rennes took total control and put down a marker for the rest of the season.
Olympique Marseilles 2-1 Reims
On Saturday, Olympique Marseilles shrugged off a midweek Champions League setback against Panathinaikos by taking three points from their Ligue 1 opener against Stade Reims. It didn’t start so well for Marseilles as the visitors took a tenth minute lead through Junya Ito, OM but fought back through Azzedine Ounahi who rifled home a leveller from distance; and the victory was complete when Vitinha poked home a cross from Ismaila Sarr.
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