NEYMAR must take his opportunity to become a Barcelona great in the absence of Lionel Messi, insists the striker's Nou Camp team-mate Javier Mascherano.
Neymar, 23, is wanted by Manchester United and Barca have already turned down a bid for their Brazil international.
Manager Louis van Gaal is understood to be eyeing a big January spend in effort to haul United to the Premier League title.
But after Messi's recent injury blow, Mascherano stressed the importance of Neymar and striker partner Luis Suarez in maintaining Barca's impressive goals tally.
"Neymar is a great player but Leo is incomparable and there is no way you can replace him," Mascherano told reporters.
"Neymar and Suarez are among the best players in the world, they needed to step up and fill the gap which is what is happening but it is also the responsibility of the rest of the team."We are not at top level in front of goal and we are aware of that the team can do more but with work we will get there."
Details of United's staggering £139million summer bid were revealed today, with Spanish newspaper Sport claiming the world record figure was swiftly rejected.
"United phoned Barcelona and got the answer that Neymar has a contract and is not for sale," Neymar's father told Sport.
"Everyone is calm. Neymar still has three years on his deal. We are happy.
"Neymar chose to play here and he is super happy in Barcelona - you can see that."
No comments:
Post a Comment