Santos will fight to keep stars

Copa Libertadores champions Santos will fight to retain two of their stars, president Luis Alvaro Ribeiro said on Friday.

Neymar has been linked with Real Madrid, Juventus and Chelsea, while Ganso has attracted AC Milan and Inter.

But it looks likely that Santos will be fighting a losing battle to keep Ganso, who has admitted he would love to join Milan in January.

The highly-rated 21-year-old, who has a price tag of more than 20-million pounds, wants to first play at the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi in December.

“My dream is to beat (Lionel) Messi’s Barcelona in the FIFA Club World Cup and then join AC Milan in January,” Ganso said.

But Ribeiro said Santos were determined to hold on to their young talent.

“Santos are not a bank with the intention to make profits,” he said.

“The club want to win titles and money is less important for us.”

“We had an unpleasant incident with Chelsea last year when they approached Neymar behind our backs.”

“Later on, I was invited to a meeting with the Chelsea chairman. I told him that we do not want to sell Neymar and would say no to any offer.”

“Altogether, three of Europe’s biggest clubs have contacted me, but I’ve told them that we are not interested in selling.”

“There was a lot of speculation about Ganso, but we have never received a concrete offer for him. It all started with the interest of AC Milan and Inter (Milan).”

“I cannot guarantee that they will stay with us, but we will do our utmost to hold on to both Neymar and Ganso.”

Ribeiro said he would enjoy playing Barcelona at the Club World Cup.

“Santos have faced better opponents in the past – it’ll be a good game,” he said.

“They play attacking football and so do we. There’s one big difference, though, and that is that we are extremely passionate to win.”