Barcelona star Neymar expresses admiration for Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola

Barcelona star Neymar has expressed his admiration for Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, opening the door for a potential move to the Premier League in the future. He was strongly linked with a move to Manchester United last summer, but the deal did not take shape.

Guardiola's contract at Bayern Munich will run down in the summer and he has already agreed to join Manchester City next season. Mourinho, on the other hand, is without a job since he was sacked from his post as a manager at Chelsea last December.

The former Real Madrid manager is a firm candidate to replace Louis van Gaal at United. Inter Milan director Bedy Moratti confirmed the Portuguese tactician is heading to Old Trafford.

The Old Trafford club made a €190m (£143.3m, $207m) bid for the Brazil international, which was confirmed by the player's father. The Red Devils are still believed to be interested in his services and are likely to make another approach after the end of the season.

"I admire them both, I've been following both of their paths for some time. But my coach is Luis Enrique and I defend Barcelona," Neymar told A Bola, as quoted by Goal.com.

The 24-year-old's contract at the Camp Nou runs down in 2018 and he has not yet extended his contract. However, Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu remains confident that Neymar and other star players will put pen to paper and will not leave the treble winners after the end of the 2015/16 season.

"All of our players are in a moment where we renew their contracts, we extend their contracts," Bartomeu told the Daily Mail.

"Right now I don't see that any of our players have to leave next summer. I cannot tell you if we have done it or not done it. But as a member of the board we are responsible people. We know what is best for our club. When something is done, we will announce it."