'Neymar? I'll stick to Martinelli': PSG star would be 'squad player' at Arsenal

Stuart Telford

• 10 Mar 2023 14:37 GMT
• 3 min read

Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly keen to sell Neymar next summer, but former Tottenham Hotspur striker Darren Bent, who supports Arsenal, wouldn't take him at the Gunners.

PSG broke the transfer record when they paid Barcelona €222 million for Neymar's services in the summer of 2017, but he has fallen behind Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi in the Parisian pecking order of late.

While Mbappe and Messi are the two constituents parts of PSG's 'MNM' strikeforce most consistently linked with a move away from the club, Paris offered Neymar to Juventus and Chelsea last summer, and the latter's owner Todd Boehly is reportedly still interested.

READ: Chelsea target Neymar may never play for PSG ever again

Arsenal missed out on left winger Mykhailo Mudryk this winter, Chelsea usurping them with a total transfer bid of €100m - €70m paid to Shakhtar Donetsk up front with €30m to follow in add-ons - but that the Gunners were in the running at all suggests they could afford Neymar.

Bent is having none of it, though.

Bent: 'I'm sticking with Martinelli'

"I like our squad now so I'm sticking with [Gabriel] Martinelli," the former England striker, who scored 25 goals in 79 games for Spurs, told talkSPORT. "Neymar in his pomp is unbelievable, but there are just times where things don't fit.

"When you look at the games he's played, he's played 20, 17, 15, 18, 22 and 20 [matches], he's always injured. I know he's world-class and I'd have him as a squad player but he doesn't walk into anyone's starting XI."

READ: 'Martinelli signs new Arsenal contract' - Ornstein

Neymar's transfer value is now down to €64m per FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, so Arsenal - or any other suitor - could likely get the Brazilian for significantly less than PSG paid for him six years ago. Bent doubts any such outlay would be worth it, though.

"I'm not criticising his ability, honestly he's phenomenal," he continued. "His ability is frightening. Some of the things he can do with a football, wow. But he comes with a bit of baggage.

"Look at what previous managers at PSG have said about working with him, he makes it incredibly difficult."