Spanish giants Barcelona have told new signing Neymar that he has a choice between taking either the club’s number 7 or 11 shirts when he returns from his summer holidays for his first practice session at the Camp Nou. The # 11 shirt became available after the club announced the sale of Thiago Alcantara to Bayern Munich, managed by former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola on Monday while the # 7 has also become after the arrival of the Brazilian led to David Villa’s exit to Atletico Madrid.
The Catalan giants paid a whopping € 57 million to prize him away from Santos after a pursuit of almost two years and the club wants to recoup as much money as they can from shirt sales as soon as they can, considering the fact that their financial condition is not very stable and have a lot of debt with various financial institutions.
The club has negotiated a deal with Neymar where they will retain much of the image rights for the Brazilian international which will enable them to get the most out of one of the most marketable assets in world football. And it is believed that the club has sought a quick decision from the player in order to capitalize on the immense demand for shirt sales with the name and number of the Brazilian wonder kid on the back.
The 21 year old is believed to favor the # 11 shirt which he wore during his time at Santos, where he became the most prolific scorer in the history of the club since the days of the legendary Pele. Neymar will join up with the club on the 25th of July but it is expected the club will start selling shirts bearing his name much before he arrives at Camp Nou.