Hammers in Neymar talks

Agent claims discussions with West Ham chiefs

Last updated: 2nd July 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Hammers in Neymar talks

Neymar: In-demand

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Neymar's agent has confirmed that he is in talks with West Ham about a move to England.

West Ham made their ambitious for Neymar earlier this week when they lodged a bid of just over £12million.

Santos immediately responded by declaring that they had no intention of selling Neymar, who is one of the most sought after young players in the world.

And despite not agreeing terms, the player's agent, Wagner Ribeiro, has confirmed that he has already held talks with the East London outfit.

"I had a long talk with the leaders of West Ham via a video conference," Neymar told Terra Brazil.

"My obligation as agent is to pass on the information to the player's family.

"The negotiation with Santos is another case [for West Ham], and that is not for me."

Brazilian sources claim that a bid of closer to £20million could be enough to land Neymar, and they are now braced for West Ham to make an offer around that figure.

However, if the Santos board reject that offer then West Ham could bid £28.5million, which would trigger Neymar's release clause.

Reports in Brazil are also adamant that Chelsea are behind the deal and that West Ham will keep the player for 12-months before moving him on to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have previously done a similar deal with Santos, when they signed Alex, and then loaned him to PSV Eindhoven, until he qualified to play in England.

However, with the huge transfer fee attached to Neymar - he would likely be granted a permit immediately to play in England so could, if he signed for them, play for West Ham or Chelsea.