Neymar: "I'm staying in Paris"
Speaking at a charity event in Sao Paolo, the Brazilian striker quashed transfer speculation, congratulated Kylian Mbappe and praised new teammate, the "great" Gianluigi Buffon.
Neymar is staying at PSG.
The Brazilian star cleared up any doubts about his future at an event at the Neymar Institute in Sao Paul on Thursday evening.
“I’m staying, I’m staying in Paris. I have a contract,” he said, adding that he had a good relationship with PSG.
Neymar, whose foundation was celebrating its second charity auction to help vulnerable children, accused the media of fueling the speculation about his future.
“The press was feeding this and making up stories. They end up speculating too much. The topic is boring, but everyone knows how fond I am of the president (PSG president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi who also attended the charity event), for the country and for the fans,” Neymar said, in his first public appearance since Brazil’s elimination from the World Cup
The ex-Barcelona player affirmed that he decided to go to Paris “for a challenge, to try new things and to search for new goals. And nothing has changed in my mind.”
World Cup disappointment "has passed"
The 26-year-old also said he was “very sad” as a result of Brazil’s World Cup elimination in the 2-1 defeat to Belgium in the quarter final, as he believed that they had a team capable of clinching the nation’s sixth title. “But fortunately (the sadness) has already passed, the mourning has ended, and we have to choose to be happy,” he added. “We have many more reasons to be happy."
Neymar also declared that he expected to have a successful season and to win more titles with PSG next season, adding that they had a very good squad and he is happy to be part of team with such “high-quality” footballers.
Mbappe and Buffon
He congratulated teammate Kylian Mbappe on France’s World Cup victory and revealed that the pair had spoken quite a lot during the tournament in Russia.
"I congratulate him on the title and we (Brazil) will be very happy when we win the World Cup," he added.
Speaking on PSG’s recent signing of Gianluigi Buffon, he said that it will be an “honour” to play with the “great goalkeeper, because of his history and the person he is.”
“He has a lot to give us and we want him to pass his experience on to us.”
