Real Madrid’s astronomical Neymar offer

When Neymar finishes his career in professional soccer, it will likely go down as one that had some incredible highs but perhaps didn’t quite reach its full potential, largely due to injuries. Most would agree the Brazil star enjoyed his most impressive club successes with Barcelona, although things could have been oh so different, one agent has revealed.

Neymar’s Real Madrid trial

The attacker was touted as a future superstar long before he made his professional debut for Santos at the age of 17 in March 2009. Three years earlier, Neymar had had a trial with the Real Madrid youth team but ultimately didn’t make the move to Spain as his father deemed him too young to move abroad.

Neymar played four full seasons in the Santos first team, scoring 136 goals in 225 games, reinforcing his position him one of the most sought-after young talents in world soccer.

In the summer of 2013, he signed for Barça, where he stayed for four seasons before a surprise departure for Paris Saint-Germain. Alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, he won eight trophies, including two LaLiga titles and the Champions League, and created countless memories.

But despite passing up the chance to join Real Madrid at the age of 14, Neymar could easily have ended up on the other side of the Clásico divide.

Speaking to Brazilian media outlet UOL, agent André Cury claimed he convinced the forward to turn down a more lucrative offer from Madrid in order to move to Barcelona, who he had previously worked closely with on several other transfers.

How much did Real Madrid offer Neymar? Why did he turn them down?

“Of the deals I did with Barcelona, the one I’m most proud of is the Neymar one. He had an offer from Real Madrid of more than €100 million ($108.3 million) after tax. But through hard work, and with Messi, we managed to convince him [to join Barça] for a much lower amount.

“He signed with a lower salary, but when he left Barcelona, he was in the top three”.

Neymar signed for PSG for a world record transfer fee of €222 million (over $240 million) in the summer of 2017, when he was 25. He stayed for six years but, hampered by numerous injuries, played fewer games for both Santos and Barça and failed to lead the team to their first ever Champions League title, which had been their main objective.

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