Manchester United's reported summer bid for Barcelona star Neymar has been confirmed by the Brazilian's father.
According to Brazil's Globo Esporte (h/t the Mirror), United put in a mammoth £140 million bid for the Brazilian superstar during the final weeks of the most recent transfer window.
The 23-year-old's father, Neymar da Silva Santos, has confirmed that the Red Devils did indeed put in a an offer, but Barcelona were having none of it, per Rob Dawson of the Manchester Evening News:
"Man United’s offer came to Barca, and they told us they won’t sell. They asked if we were interested, but that wasn’t the case. Barcelona does not want to sell Neymar because he has a three-year contract."
Neymar is currently tied to Barca until 2018 and will reportedly not begin talks over a new contract at the club until the new year.
The Catalans are clearly not overly concerned about the interest from United and have put Neymar's contract talks on hold until January, per Goal.com's Ignasi Oliva.
The report indicates that Barca need an injection of money before they can enter into negotiations with Neymar, as their wage bill currently accounts for 73 per cent of their total budget, three percentage points more than FIFA regulations allow.
Per Oliva, a potential deal with betting company Botemania over sponsorship of Barcelona's training kit should provide the La Liga champions with the added funds to stay inside FIFA's regulations when renegotiating Neymar's contract.
The forward has formed a potent attacking trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, and last year, he won the La Liga title, Copa del Rey and Champions League with Barca.
It was always unlikely that he would want to part ways with the club, and United's offer was seemingly largely speculative.
However, Barcelona will want to get him tied down to a lengthy extension as soon as possible, as United's interest is only likely to increase the longer Neymar holds off on penning a new deal.
Meanwhile, United's summer strike signing Anthony Martial reportedly nearly joined Everton on loan in the winter of 2013-14, per David Maddock in the Mirror.
The 19-year-old striker has made an impressive start to his career at Old Trafford since his £36 million switch from Monaco in the summer, and he was recently awarded the Premier League's Player of the Month Award for September, per United's official Twitter account.
However, according to Maddock, he was on the verge of a loan switch to Goodison Park as an 18-year-old, as he had become frustrated with his lack of playing time at Monaco.
United face Everton in the Premier League this weekend, a fixture in which Bleacher Report's Jonathan Johnson believes the Red Devils could drop further points after losing 3-0 to Arsenal last time out:
If Martial is on form, though, United will have an excellent chance of picking up their first victory at Goodison Park since 2011.
