Has Barcelona Struck a Deal with Santos for Neymar?

Reports of Santos' prize possession, Neymar, being sold off have started to surface after the conclusion of the transfer window. Many have suggested that perhaps Santos struck a deal to sell their striker off to a much larger club, sometime throughout the season or next. However, such reports have been overwhelmingly rejected by the 19-years-old's club.

According to Goal.com,Santos published a lengthy post on their website, denying that a deal for Neymar had been done...with any club, particularly Barcelona.

The post on the site read:

"Because of the special interest manifested in the last few days by the press related to Neymar, Santos Futebol Clube officially informs that the information that it has sold the economic rights of Neymar is not true...

The club's board of directors always had the intention of keeping Neymar in the team and for that has built a very promising career plan to make his stay in Brazil viable."

Although the statement claimed that no deal had yet been done, it did admit that somewhere down the track Neymar would make a much anticipated move to Europe. Going on to say "For months now the board of directors of Santos Futebol Clube has been approached by several foreign clubs interested in Neymar, including clubs from Spain," continued the statement. "Neymar and his family always mention the intention of making the transfer to Europe at some point in the future as part of the project for the international career of the player."

Although Neymar will remain in Brazil for at least another season, there is no doubt that scouts from around the world will be monitoring his status. Neymar has been tipped to be one of the best players of our generation. However, getting the move to Europe right will be crucial to the development of his career. Because as has been the case so many times, an early move could result in stagnant development.