Red tape ruled out a deal for the 13-year-old Neymar in 2005 as part of the move which brought Robinho to Madrid from Santos. Neymar, back then, travelled to Spain and was even registered as a Madrid player for a short time.
Club president Florentino Perez (above) kept in touch and later paid money to Neymar's agent, Wagner Ribeiro, in order to ensure his club would have first option on the forward. Ribeiro was keen to push through a deal in 2011, as were Santos, but Perez upset Neymar on two conference calls, when he told the player he would need to start off in Madrid's youth team and earn his place. Real, he said, were the world's greatest club and he wouldn't be able to walk into the team.
By this time, Neymar was already a superstar in Brazil and this stance is said to have let in Barcelona, with Sandro Rosell, their president, saying all the right things to win over the youngster and his father.
Madrid also paid for Neymar to undergo a medical in Brazil in 2011, but the player was by now keen on Barcelona. From the age of around 17, he was set on joining the Catalan club and longed to play alongside Lionel Messi.
Real remained interested right until the end and offered more money than Barca, with Perez prepared to pay virtually whatever it took to get his man.
Santos told Neymar they would rather he joined Madrid, but the forward's mind was made up even though the player's father kept Real in the loop.
With his son in such high demand from two of the world's biggest clubs (and eternal enemies), Neymar Sr could virtually name his price.
Courtesy: Ben Hayward | Spanish Football Writer
Source: http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/2292/editorials/2013/12/18/4487482/commission-impossible-neymar-his-father-and-barcelonas
No comments:
Post a Comment