Real Madrid have tried to sign Neymar on three occasions throughout the Brazilian’s successful career – but only one of those occasions came after he spent a spell at Barcelona.
The Brazilian forward has endured a mixed time in the French capital recently. He has suffered from a combination of injuries and poor form.
Now, with Kylian Mbappe’s bumper new contract, it appears that Neymar is no longer the top dog. Add that to the fact that Lionel Messi was signed by the club last summer too, and Neymar, all of a sudden, is starting to seem surplus to requirements.
Neymar moves to PSG
When Neymar moved to Paris in 2017, it shook world football. The Qatar-backed club coughed up an incredible €222 million for the Brazilian attacker.
Neymar was stepping out from behind Messi’s shadow at Barcelona. He was the signing that, seemingly, was going to bring the Champions League to the French capital.
Five years on, PSG are yet to win the competition. It isn’t for want of trying. The French giants, then under the stewardship of Thomas Tuchel, reached the final in 2020. Neymar was a key reason behind their success, with several top performances. But they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich.
The Brazilian superstar, now 30, had big personal ambitions. He wanted to win the Ballon d’Or during his time at the French club.
In 2017, Neymar’s former Barcelona teammate Jeremy Mathieu said to ESPN: “I think he left Barcelona to try to win the Ballon d’Or, because he was a little bit second to Leo Messi there. It was difficult for him there, and that’s why I think he left.”
Did Real Madrid try and sign Neymar?
Neymar has regularly been linked with a return to Barcelona. However, Real Madrid – who tried to sign the Brazilian from Santos as a teenager – have made a total of three attempts to lure him to the Bernabeu.
The most prominent of these was in 2019. Neymar had made his intention to leave PSG known, and Real Madrid were first in line for his signature.
He spoke to numerous Madrid players and also to some directors, but the move never materialised. His former agent, Wagner Ribeiro, claimed in an interview with L’Equipe that Real were willing to pay €300 million to sign him, but that PSG said even an offer of €1 billion would not be enough.
In terms of the shocking scales, a Neymar move to Real would not have topped Luis Figo’s direct move from Barca to Real in 2000. However, it is hard to think of the Brazilian wearing the Los Blancos shirt.
Could the deal be resurrected this summer?
Given that Kylian Mbappe recently signed his new contract at PSG, Neymar could be nearing the exit door. Real Madrid had long been courting Mbappe and could move for his teammate to spare their blushes after missing out on the French World Cup winner.
It would take a huge amount of money to prise Neymar from PSG. Real Madrid are one of the few teams in world football that could afford it.
Featured image credit: Getty
