Products You May Like
Brazil federation president Rogerio Caboclo has initiated conversations with Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid about releasing Neymar and young stars Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Reinier Jesus for this summer’s Olympic tournament.
Gold medal winners for the first time in 2016, Brazil are looking to defend their title in Tokyo and Caboclo has already spoken with PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez about having the quartet at manager Andre Jardine’s disposal, according to a report in Globoesporte.
Neymar, who scored the winning penalty against Germany in the 2016 final at Maracana, has expressed his interest in playing for Brazil in both the Copa America and the Olympic Games but acknowledged the scheduling of the two tournaments will be difficult to overcome. The Copa final will be played just 10 days prior to the start of the Olympic tournament.
Another impediment to Neymar’s participation at both tournaments is that the Olympics are not an official FIFA date, which means clubs are not obligated to release players.
“I am willing to play at both the Copa America and the Olympics. However, I think it is a bit complicated — ask PSG,” Neymar, who has battled injuries since his record move to PSG, said in January.
“The other time [2016], when I was with Barcelona, they would not let me play in both. I hope 100 percent to be able to help Brazil in some way.”
Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, both of whom joined Real as 18-year-olds the past two years, have had fast starts to their Bernabeu career, with Vinicius setting up a goal in Los Blancos‘ 2-1 loss to Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Reinier, 18, joined the 13-time European champs from Flamengo this winter after playing a starring role in Brazil’s Olympic qualifying efforts last month.