World Football Transfers: Top 5 Potential Destinations for Brazilian Star Neymar

According to a variety of news sources, including The Sun, Goal.com and Bloomberg, Brazilian sensation Neymar looks set to finally make his move to Europe after Santos President Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro confirmed that five different clubs have agreed to meet the buy out clause of  £40 million in the player's contract.

The five clubs, according to various sources, are Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester City and Anzhi Makhachkala of Russia.

It was reported earlier than Juventus were in the running as well, but such reports have since been corrected with Manchester City actually being one of the five clubs in the running, and Juventus showing much more interest in signing Sergio Aguero.

It is also rumored that Inter Milan may have made a late entrance into the race to sign Neymar after sorting out their managerial situation.

Rather than wait to see how things play out, in a saga that likely will carry on until at least late July, I've decided to rank the clubs bidding for Neymar from fifth to first, in terms of how likely it is that he will move to each club.

Factors taken into consideration include: the desirability of the club (in terms of European competitiveness), how Neymar fits into each club's starting XI and other advantages that each club may have in attracting Neymar to their club.

Enjoy, and make sure to let me know what you think in the comments section below!  

5. Anzhi Makhachkala

Starting 11 with Neymar:

GK: Nukri Revishvili

LB: Roberto Carlos - CB: Joao Carlos - CB: Rasim Tegirbekov - RB: Benoit Angbwa

LM/Wing: Balasz Dzsudzsák - DM/CM: Jucilei/Akhmedov - AM/CM: Kamil Agalarov - RM/Wing: Mbark Boussoufa

SS/Fwd: Neymar - CF/Fwd: Tardelli/Holanda

Desirability: 6/10

Advantages Appealing to Neymar: Large Brazilian Contingent

If I had to guess the percentage of soccer readers on Bleacher Report who had heard of FC Anzhi prior to their bid for Neymar, I'd say it'd be around five percent.

But that's not because I have a low opinion of the knowledge of soccer readers on Bleacher Report. It's because prior to the purchase of the club by billionaire Suleyman Kerimov in January 2011, the club was nothing more than a mid-table team in the Russian Premier League.

In fact, going further back to 2009, the club were still playing in the Russian second division, or the Championship as it's formally known.

However, since taking over, Kerimov has invested in many high profile players in hopes of turning Anzhi into a force both in the Russian Premier League as well as on the European level.

In Kerimov's first transfer window, he signed Roberto Carlos and Jucilei from Corinthians, Diego Tardelli from Atletico Miniero and Mbark Boussoufa from RSC Anderlecht.

And in the current transfer window, he has shown no sign of slowing down, signing Balázs Dzsudzsák from PSV, despite interest in the player from Liverpool, Arsenal, Juventus and more.

Yet, despite the solid investment in the club by Kerimov, his bid for Neymar is just too big a move for the club. Neymar has the talent to go on to be one of the best players in the world, and the best players in the world, simply put, do not go to Russia to ply their trade.

FC Anzhi are definitely on the way up and have a large Brazilian contingent that would surely help Neymar acclimate to life in Russia, but they just aren't big enough to sign a massive talent like Neymar.

It's more than likely that this is nothing more than a very smart PR move by Kerimov, getting the name of FC Anzhi out in the papers and media and thus raising the profile of the club.

Well done, Mr. Kerimov. 

4. Barcelona

Starting 11 with Neymar:

GK: Victor Valdes

LB: Eric Abidal - CB: Carles Puyol - CB: Gerard Pique - RB: Dani Alves

CM: Xavi - DM/CM: Sergio Busquets - CM/AM: Iniesta

Wing/Fwd: Pedro - CF/Fwd: Messi - Wing/Fwd: Neymar

Desirability: 10/10

Advantages Appealing to Neymar: Best Team in the World

With a desirability rating of 10/10, it may come as a surprise that I have Barcelona listed as the fourth most likely club to acquire Neymar. Why would any player in the world turn down a move to the current best team in the world?

Space. There is no space, both in the starting lineup and on the bench, for Neymar at Barcelona.

Even if hypothetically David Villa is displaced from the starting lineup (an idea which I consider ridiculous, as I explain here), Alexis Sanchez's impending transfer to Barcelona would create a massive logjam at the position, with three world-class players (with transfer fees all around €40 million) fighting for playing time in one position.

Eventually, Guardiola would prefer one over the others (as he did when Pedro first emerged with Henry in his position), and the other two would be massively unhappy, resulting in unrest in the locker room and probably hurting results on the pitch (similar to what happened with Ibra in 2009-10).

Picking up on my second point, there is no space at Barcelona for Neymar to play his game. Neymar is world-renowned for his tricks, skills and dribbling, yet Barcelona are a team that pride themselves on playing possession football, passing the ball around till they can make the killer pass for the goal.

Staying hypothetical, Neymar could potentially learn to adjust, but from what we've seen from him thus far, his talents are not best suited for this type of football.

Finally, Barcelona simply don't have the finances for Neymar. Reports indicated at the start of the summer that Barcelona had a transfer budget of €45 million but could possibly exceed if the transfers were worthwhile.

With Sanchez already costing them €36 million and Fabregas expected to cost at least €39 million, Barcelona have already far exceeded their transfer budget and would be seriously hurting themselves financially if they were to invest a further £40 million in Neymar.

3. Manchester City

Starting 11 with Neymar:

GK: Joe Hart

LB: Aleksandr Kolarov - CB: Vincent Kompany - CB: Joleon Lescott - RB: Micah Ricards

DM: Nigel De Jong - CM/DM: Gareth Barry 

AM/Wing: David Silva - CM/AM: Yaya Toure - AM/Wing: Neymar

CF/Fwd: Carlos Tevez

Desirability: 8/10

Advantages Appealing to Neymar: Freedom to Play His Game

Big spenders Manchester City come in at No. 3 on the list of clubs most likely to acquire Neymar.

There are plenty of reasons why Neymar and Manchester City would make a good match.

For one, unlike Barcelona, they are a good match for his style. At City, Mancini usually focuses on the defensive side of the game and then gives his attackers, usually Yaya Toure, David Silva and Carlos Tevez, freedom to work their magic up front.

This type of attitude matches perfectly with Neymar, who enjoys cutting open defenses with his skills and dribbles before either laying the ball off for a teammate or scoring himself.

Secondly, Neymar thrives on being the center of attention. At Barcelona, Real Madrid and even Chelsea, Neymar would be a star among stars and would be forced to curb his enthusiasm so as to fit into the structure of each team.

At Manchester City however, he would, as the cliche goes, have the best of both worlds. He would be surrounded by great players at a great club but still be allowed to express himself and play his game.

Manchester City, for all the progress they've made as a club, still lack a true superstar at the same level of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Xavi, Wesley Sneijder, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the other current greats of the game.

Tevez is at the right level, but his off-and-on attitude with Manchester City makes him a somewhat unreliable option. The superstar void is there for the taking, and Neymar has everything neccessary to fill it.

There are, however, a couple of deterrants that may possibly scare Neymar off from joining Manchester City.

For one, Robinho, Neymar's good friend, left the club under acrimonious circumstances, and likely will not have much good to say about the club or Mancini if asked about his stay by Neymar.

Secondly, every other club on this list has at least two Brazilians actively involved with the first team, who are likely to help Neymar acclimate to his new life in Europe. Manchester City only have one Brazilian in their squad, Jo, and it is only a matter of time before he is sold as he is far, far down in the striker pecking order.

I personally believe that Manchester City are the best or second best club for Neymar and will provide him with the best environment to develop and become one of the best players in the game. Will the move happen though?

Unfortunately, I have my doubts.

2. Real Madrid

Starting 11 with Neymar:

GK: Iker Casillas

LB: Marcelo - CB: Pepe - CB: Ricardo Carvalho - RB: Sergio Ramos

CM/DM: Xabi Alonso - CM: Nuri Sahin/Sami Khedira 

Wing/Fwd: Cristiano Ronaldo - AM: Mesut Ozil/Kaka - Wing/Fwd: Neymar

CF/Fwd: Gonzalo Higuain/Karim Benzema

Desirability: 9/10

Advantages Appealing to Neymar: Negotiating with Brazilian Ronaldo

According to report published just today on ESPN, it appears Neymar has already chosen Real Madrid as his club for next season.

However, as any follower of European soccer knows, a transfer is not complete until a deal is done and the player is confirmed by his new club, so I will continue to speculate about Neymar's final destination until then.

To be quite honest, Real Madrid is probably the second worst destination for Neymar after Barcelona. Neymar's coach at Santos, Muricy Ramalho, echoes my thoughts (quote is from the same article mentioned above):

"

"You never know what he's going to do—he's unpredictable. Mourinho, though, is very tactics-based, focusing on not letting opponents play and closing the space. I have doubts about how well it would work out with Real Madrid." 

"

Indeed, Ramalho, you are not the only one—I too have great doubts about how it would work.

For one, there is no space for him in the lineup.

Angel Di Maria has been fantastic for Real Madrid and tactically does everything Mourinho asks without question. Toward the end of the season, Di Maria was often seen playing defense while Marcelo attacked further up the field—obviously the result of Mourinho's tactics.

It is very hard to imagine Mourinho dropping Di Maria all of a sudden after trusting him all season long, and even harder to imagine Neymar listening to the directions of Mourinho and following them out to nearly the same effectiveness that Di Maria did last season.

The same applies with Mesut Ozil. The attacking playmaker was amazing last season, scoring 10 goals and dishing out 25 assists and like Di Maria, has followed Mourinho's tactics without question.

Even with Kaka returning from injury and getting in good form, Ozil has kept his starting spot, so it seems inconceivable that a coach like Mourinho would drop Ozil for Neymar.

Secondly, as Ramalho pointed out, the tactics at Real Madrid are exactly ones that players like Neymar struggle to cope with.

Mourinho's tactics, while not neccessarily anti-football, are very systematic; there's no room for regular mazy runs through the middle of the field, and even Ronaldo has had to curb this aspect of his game.

Furthermore, in Mourinho's system, every player is expected to carry his own weight and chip in defensively or in pressing the ball. It is questionable whether Neymar currently has a decent defensive side to his game and how well it can develop.

Currently, it is being reported that Ronaldo (the Brazilian legend, not Cristiano) is acting as a go-between for Real Madrid and Neymar; that may be why the young Brazilian is convinced that a move to Real is the right move for him.

However, if he pauses for a second and looks at the tactical side of the game and the current players in the team, then he should quickly realize that he and Real do not make a good match, and that it is in his best interest to look elsewhere.  

1. Chelsea

Starting 11 with Neymar:

GK: Petr Cech

LB: Ashley Cole - CB: John Terry - CB: David Luiz - RB: Branislav Ivanovic

LM/Wing: Florent Malouda - CM/DM: Michael Essein - CM/AM: Frank Lampard - RM: Ramires

SS/Fwd: Neymar - CF/Fwd: Didier Drogba/Fernando Torres

Desirability: 9/10

Advantages Appealing to Neymar: Large Brazilian Contingent, Freedom to Play

Ignoring reports stating otherwise, the club that, realistically, should have the highest chance of signing Neymar are Chelsea.

Since the summer started, Neymar has been Chelsea's No. 1 transfer target.

That's not due to a lack of options in the transfer market or a lack of funds. It's because Chelsea are very aware that, in Neymar, they have a player who has all the qualities neccessary to take the team to the top of the Premier League and Champions League.

Chelsea and Neymar are a perfect match. For one, the tactics line up perfectly with the player. New coach Andre Villas-Boas plays a very attacking brand of football, and such football will provide Neymar with numerous opportunities to showcase his skills and make the dazzling runs he's become world-famous for.

Secondly, the current squad is a perfect fit as well. As of now, the Chelsea squad is a squad loaded with veterans; the professionalism and efficiency is there, but the creativity is lacking.

This has been especially evident up front for Chelsea, where none of the strikers were able to get on a decent scoring run in the second half of the season and were generally starved of regular, quality service from their midfield.

Neymar has the potential to be the solution for both problems. As shown repeatedly over the last year, Neymar excels at both creating and scoring goals.

Thus, if placed into a second striker role by Villas-Boas, its very likely that he'll be able to get on a good scoring run himself, as well as feed the center forward in front of him, be it Drogba or Torres, with a regular supply of quality passes.

If Neymar thinks his options through with his head, taking into consideration the type of tactics each team plays and how successful the team can be with him, he'll find that Chelsea are the best option for him, with Manchester City a close second.

If he doesn't, then it is very likely he'll choose to move to Real Madrid, where it is equally likely that he will struggle for game time and will find himself frustrated with both a lack of opportunities and a lack of freedom whenever he does play.