Barcelona star Neymar says he would love to play under Pep Guardiola amid Manchester United rumours

Barcelona star Neymar has put the Premier League clubs on alert after revealing he would love to play under manager Pep Guardiola. The Brazilian international has been linked with a move to Manchester United in recent times while the Spanish boss himself has already confirmed that he expects to coach in England next season amid reports linking him with the Red Devils themselves, Chelsea and especially Manchester City.

Neymar's future at the Nou Camp has been under scrutiny in recent months after his father warned that he would not renew his contract at Barcelona until his tax issues with the Spanish authorities were solved, with his current deal running out in 2018.

Reports in Spain have claimed that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is trying to take advantage of the situation to make him his new Galactico while Mundo Deportivo said in January that United would be keen in meeting his €190m (£144.5m, $207m) release clause even before the end of the current transfer window. Neymar and his father previously admitted that Louis van Gaal already tried to lure his son to Manchester United over the summer.

The report also said that Neymar was instead willing to stay at the Catalan giants for the long-term but the player has now added fuel to the speculations in two different interviews, firstly claiming he is likely to work under Guardiola and later refusing to commit his future to Barcelona despite being "happy" at the Camp Nou.

Asked in an promotional interview with Red Bull whether there are any coach he wants to work in the future, he firmly replied: "Yes there is one: Guardiola is a guy that I really admire and who I would love to work with."

While asked about if he would like to play somewhere different from Spain, he added: "It's tough to say if I wanna play in other countries... nobody knows [about] tomorrow, but I'm very happy where I am right now, at Barcelona."

"I want to go back to Brazil some day and I also would like to play in the United States – those two countries are where I want to play later on my career. The US is a place where the game is growing and attracting the interest of lots of players, who are becoming more and more popular there, so this makes me curious, it makes me interested to see it closely."

The Brazilian, meanwhile, in another interview with BEIN Sport Spain, insisted he is happy at the Champions League winner but saying they will "need to see everything" before signing a new deal, with some suggesting he is just pushing Barcelona to get a better deal by playing with the interest of Real Madrid and Manchester United in securing his services.

"There is debate with it all, the renewal and everything, I am very happy in Barcelona, I have almost everything," he said. "I have happiness and health. It is difficult to leave here because I have found a great city, a great club, some players from another planet and for me it's difficult (to leave this) but we have to see everything. These are things that make it difficult to decide but we must be calm because I still have years at the club."

"Barcelona fans should stay calm because I am still at the club and we have many games left to win the treble," Neymar added. "That is what we seek and work all day for Barca to be the best and the greatest."