Sports Burst - Neymar The Nowhere Man
Neymar stuck in limbo between team that doesn't want him and two others that can't pay the price
by Tim Stannard
Barcelona set to start season with Neymar still stuck at PSG after French club turn down all offers for rebellious Brazilian
Neymar is now experiencing the footballing equivalent of standing at a baggage reclaim belt of despair.
Alone and isolated, waiting for his suitcase of freedom to plop down the chute of opportunity.
Two cases trundled by on Wednesday but neither was for him.
The first was an offer from Real Madrid to PSG for the footballer. The La Liga side offered cash, Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez. The bait was not taken says the BBC. PSG wanted Vinicius Junior. No deal.
Barcelona's offered up over $100 million and Philippe Coutinho. No deal, more cash and another player like Ousmane Dembele added on top. And that doesn't work well with Barcelona who would be giving up players worth $250 million on the market as well as coughing up cash the club doesn't really have.
Meanwhile, Barcelona heavyweight Hristo Stoichkov has declared that his former club should have no business in bringing back Neymar. "He's trouble in the locker room," declared Stoichkov. "Barcelona doesn't need Neymar. I don't want him back."
In more tangible news, the return of La Liga is just one sleep away. Join the new beIN SPORTS signing, Hope Solo, on Friday for extensive coverage of the season-opener against Athletic Bilbao. It all gets underway at 2.30PM ET / 11:30AM PT.
Falcao may stay a Monaco man as Balo rethinks Flamengo offer
He's staying, he's going...he's staying.
It seems that Radamel Falcao is going to hang on at Monaco after all despite strong links with a move to Galatasaray. The Colombian forward has been holding out for a contract extension to 2020, and Falcao might well get his way.
That's not the only activity going on in Monte Carlo today. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Mario Balotelli and his agent, Mino Raiola, will be meeting with Flamengo's big cheeses in another attempt to move the player to Brazil.
While negotiations are taking place for these two players, Alexis Sanchez is reportedly quite unwilling to discuss ending a fairly comfy life at Manchester United despite interest from Roma to move the couch-loving Chilean to Serie A.
Paul Pogba, however, is very much in favor of a move away from Manchester United. According to Marca, the French midfielder is still gently flapping at the ashes of a move to Real Madrid this summer in the hope of setting of a spark.
The Sports Burst live show will bring you all the transfer news and views on our beIN SPORTS USA Facebook page at 12PM ET / 9AM PT.
Double racquet destruction and another trophy for Atlanta United
Australian tennis player, Nick Kyrgios, had managed to go a number of weeks without an on-court meltdown of some sort, but that was broken in style in the Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday night.
The potty-mouthed maelstrom was up against Karen Khachanov in a second round clash. After losing the second set, Kyrgios stormed off the set, smashed two racquets in a corridor in full Happy Gilmore mode and then called the umpire a "tool" after the eventual loss.
In a fairly chequered but not wholly unsuccessful career Kyrgios has previously been called up for kicking a bottle and storming out of a game as well as not putting in sufficient effort.
Roger Federer is in action today and while a similar meltdown would be entertaining, it's fairly unlikely.
Elsewhere in the US of A last night, Atlanta United defeated Club America in a 3-2 win to lift the Campeones Cup. In MLS action, LA Galaxy shook off some indifferent form to say the least to defeat FC Dallas 2-0 after two goals from King Zlatan.
And in cricket, after a day one wash-out England have been put into bat in the Ashes series....and no-one cares again do they?