The gifted attacker's former boss has
voiced his concerns with the
Blaugrana's plans to improve his
physique by placing him on a weight-
gaining programme Former Santos coach Muricy Ramalho
has hit out at Barcelona over their plans for Neymar to gain weight to boost his physical prowess. Barca doctor Ricard Pruna said earlier
this summer that the 21-year-old must
gain weight in order to reach his peak
physical condition, after the Brazilian
was diagnosed with anaemia
following his €57 million switch to Camp Nou. Ramalho, however, believes the
Blaugrana are risking damaging
Neymar's long-term effectiveness,
claiming it could lead to a serious
injury like that suffered by compatriot
and former Barcelona star Ronaldo. "If Neymar puts on weight, they’re
going to take away everything that’s
best about him," Ramalho told Jovem
Pam. "They’re going to take away his
speed. With small players such as Xavi,
[Andres] Iniesta and [Lionel] Messi at
Barca, I never imagined that they
would do this. "If he puts on weight he could suffer a
knee injury, like what happened to
Ronaldo. It’s a dangerous business." Neymar scored his first goal for
Barcelona earlier this week in the 7-1
friendly win over Thailand. www.goal.com/en-ng/news/4099/spain/2013/08/09/4175080/barcelona-risk-ruining-neymar-says-ramalho