Neymar is a new and hugely unwelcome phenomenon in football. The mobile advertising and merchandising asset. A horribly mediocre talent hyped beyond belief and with a reputation built entirely on the back of genuine talent positioned around him to (mostly) hide his almost comical inadequacies. Like Sterling at the gypos. Or Alli at the spuds. Pure hype and steadfast refusal to ignore the evidence of eyeballs. Neymar is the king though. The world champion of exploiting football. The poster trannie for everything that is wrong with the game.Neymar's move to Real Madrid could be more concrete than many first thought, after his dad has reportedly had dinner with President Florentino Perez to discuss a potential €250million (£220million) deal.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar is less than six months into his £600,000-a-week deal – following the world-record £198million move from Barcelona in the summer – but is already said to be unsettled in the French capital.