Neymar to Manchester United: '£145.2m bid being prepared' for Barcelona forward

No, it’s probably not

Barcelona striker Neymar (Getty Images)

Manchester United have been linked with a quite ridiculous move for Barcelona forward Neymar.

Sorry United fans, but even scratching just below the surface reveals that the rumour is nonsense.

It has gained traction in the last couple of days with various British news outlets picking it up and running it - the problem is the original source itself even rules out a move.

The story first emerged on Monday on Fichajes.net, a highly unreliable Spanish transfer gossip website.

Within the story, translated from Spanish, it says that Manchester United will prepare a €200million offer (£145.2m under current exchange rate) for the Barcelona star, who has arguably been La Liga’s best player this season.

However, at the end of the very same sentence, the report states the Brazilian international will not listen to any offers.

Oh.

In the next paragraph the report continues that Neymar wants to establish himself as a star of La Liga and set the standard for Barcelona alongside Lionel Messi.

The report also makes it clear that Neymar knows how tough it would be to adapt to British football and that a move ‘is not an option for him today’ the very final sentence of the report even adds that United will have to look at other targets on the market…

With Louis van Gaal's team also out of the Champions League, does it really seem likely Neymar would want to leave the best team in the world for Old Trafford?

Guess we can put this rumour to bed.