Chelsea is expected to make a new offer to Santos in an attempt to nab young Brazilian star Neymar.

The Premier League champions have previous had a £17m bid rejected by the Brazilian club.

According to reports in the Guardian, Chelsea is prepared to improve on that bid, though not to the extent of the £29.6m in Neymar’s buy-out clause.

Carlo Ancelotti is a fan of the young star, and the forward would expect to earn around £55,000 a week at Stamford Bridge.

There have been reservations though about his ability to get regular first-team football if he joins the Blues.

“I don’t know if I will stay or go but I don’t want to leave a championship team like Santos to be put in the reserves at Chelsea or any other foreign team,” Neymar said. “It would be better to stay. I will take the advice of Mano [Menezes, the Brazil coach] into consideration before making my decision.”

Selecao coach Mano Menezes believes that Neymar should stay in Brazil, saying: “Everyone understands Neymar’s situation and what must be going on in his mind,” Menezes said.

“But, considering Brazilian football, remaining with Santos would work to his advantage and be beneficial. The team is at the top and it would very good for Neymar to say with them for longer.”

Meanwhile, the player is awaiting punishment after apparently criticising the referee in his side’s 4-2 loss to Vitoria, and faces a six-game domestic ban and a £30,000 fine.Neymar claims his account was hacked into and disputes the charge.