Real Madrid have denied making “any kind of offer” to Paris Saint Germain for their Brazil forward Neymar, the most expensive player in the world.
A report by Television Espanola (TVE) claimed on Monday that Real were preparing to surpass the 222million euro (£200million) fee that PSG paid Barcelona for Neymar last August in their own bid to bring the 26-year-old to the Bernabeu.
Real have rejected the TVE report, with a statement published on realmadrid.com reading: “In light of information broadcast tonight by TVE regarding an alleged Real Madrid offer to PSG and their player Neymar, Real Madrid wish to state that this information is absolutely untrue. Real Madrid has made no offer of any kind to PSG or the player.
“Real Madrid are surprised that the Spanish public television network would choose to broadcast entirely false information without anyone from the outlet having first contacted any of the parties concerned to corroborate the supposed information, which would have been quite easily discredited.”
Neymar, who is set to feature against Belgium in the World Cup quarter-finals after scoring in his country’s 2-0 victory over Mexico, scored 28 goals in all competitions for PSG last season following his surprise, world-record transfer to Paris.
