Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo has come to the defence of Paris Saint-Germain’s winger Neymar following his widespread criticisms from pundits. The former La Liga rivals moved to different leagues but it is the Portuguese who saw more success as opposed to the Brazilian, whose season has been marred with injuries.
Despite a season of below expectations delivery by Neymar, who moved from Spain’s Barcelona to France’s PSG in 2017, initially performed well in his first year at PSG but did not match a ‘Balon’Dor’ winning level performance. Ronaldo, who also moved from Spain’s Real Madrid to Italy’s Juventus last year feels the criticism his former rival is drawing is unfair.
“In football, there has always been criticisms. We cannot do anything about it. I see him as a very intelligent kid, an extraordinary talent, and wanting to have continuity again. He had two serious injuries that reduced his game time, and that opened the window of controversy to him when not being on the field,” Goal quoted Ronaldo, as saying.
“The vast majority of criticism is unfair. I believe in him and I’m sure he will turn his situation around,” he added.
However, Ronaldo cleared the air on speculations about Neymar moving to Real Madrid.
“I do not know about Neymar. It has been dragging on for many years. There are many rumours, but I do not think there is anything concrete with Real Madrid,” he said.
“He is an incredible player that anyone would like to have. But, from what I see, he’s not on the market,” Ronaldo added.
(With ANI Inputs)
