Chelsea and Tottenham target can leave for free

Thursday, August 2, 2012
1:11 PM

Transfer news: Neymar can leave Santos in 2014, when his contract expires

Tottenham and Chelsea target Neymar will be allowed to leave Santos for free according to president Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro.

The 20-year-old star, who has been valued at £60 million, has been linked with the London rivals and Barcelona.

“It is impossible for Neymar to leave Santos before 2014,” Ribeiro told Catalan sports daily Mundo Deportivo.

“When I sign a contract I fulfil it, and the player wants to do the same.

“I do not think of a player as a product, but as a human being.

“What Neymar generates for Santos over all the years he is here would more than compensate for him leaving for free. “Neymar is happy here, and we will not give up persuading him to stay. Neymar will be in charge of his own future in 2014.”