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Chelsea have Neymar bid rejected

20 Jul 2010 - 18:12:33

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Brazilian club Santos have rejected an offer, believed to be in the region of £20million, from Chelsea for teenage striker Neymar.

A brief statement on the club's official website suggested the bid had been made on Tuesday morning but they were unwilling to sell the 18-year-old this summer at any price.

Neymar has played for Brazil's Under-16 and Under-17 teams but has not played for the senior side. There was a clamour from fans for him to be included in the World Cup squad in South Africa but Dunga refused to bow to the pressure and excluded the teenager from his 23-man squad.

Earlier in the summer, West Ham United failed with a £12million bid for Neymar while Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan have also been linked with him in recent months.

At the time of the Hammers' bid, Santos' director of football Pedro Luiz Nunes said: "We received an offer from West Ham for Neymar, worth 15million euros.

"Our position is clear, we do not open negotiations. These athletes only leave the club by paying the release clause."

Neymar scored 27 goals in 29 appearances for Santos last season.