Manchester United made a big-money deadline day offer for Brazilian superstar Neymar.
According to British newspaper The Sun, Sir Alex Ferguson put in a £38 million ($60.2 million) bid for the Santos forward, but the player rejected any chances of a move, saying he wanted to stay in Brazil until 2014, when his country hosts the World Cup.
The Sun report states that Ferguson decided to go for Neymar after losing out on Lucas Moura, who signed for Paris St Germain, adding the bid also puts further doubts on the future of Wayne Rooney.
While Ferguson is a known admirer of Neymar's talents, it is extremely unlikely that United would bid for the forward, who likes to play from the left of a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1, seeing the amount of attacking talent available at Old Trafford. Also, it is debatable whether the £38 million quoted would be accepted by Santos; with the club previously stating it would take a lot more to tempt them to sell their most prized asset.
And, indeed, a little after the links surfaced, Santos' football director Felipe Faro denied having received a bid. "I have no idea where that came from, but it's not true," he told Globo Esporte.
Neymar is considered only next to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, with some in Brazil even believing he is better or at least right up there with the two best players in the world. United, under the Glazer family, have tightened their purse strings considerably and it is highly unlikely that the club, in the current structure can afford Neymar, although such a signing would go very far in appeasing some of the disgruntled United supporters that have complained about the running of the club.
With the likes of PSG, who hijacked the move for Moura after a deal had already been reportedly agreed with United, Chelsea and Manchester City having considerably larger pockets, United will find it very difficult to compete for the coveted forward, if a bidding war were to ensue.
Which is probably why Ferguson, if he did make the bid, which again is very unlikely, tried a last-gasp move at the end of the transfer window.
Neymar is also reportedly only interested in signing for either Real Madrid or Barcelona, with the latter the current favorites, if and when the striker decides to make his move to Europe.
However, with both clubs, like United, under serious debt and the Financial Fair Play system set to come into effect, it will be interesting to see which club will put their neck out to buy the forward in two years' time. As well all know when it comes to footballers; money is usually the deciding factor.
