Barcelona star Neymar Jr. reportedly turned down a huge offer from La Liga giants Real Madrid for a possible move to the Santiago Bernabeu, reports ESPN FC. The story suggests that the former Santos man had been secretly approached by Real Madrid agents for a possible world-record move. Sky Sports’ Spanish football expert Guillem Balague also claimed that Barca are currently struggling to offer Lionel Messi and Neymar new deals, which would make them the highest paid footballers at the club.
Real Madrid are said to have taken advantage of the situation to lure the former Santos man to the Santiago Bernabeu. This also comes a few weeks after Neymar’s father hinted that if the recent tax wrangles facing his son would persist, then he would be forced to leave the Catalans.
Spanish newspaper SPORT revealed that Neymar would not leave Barca for Madrid
Los Blancos had attempted to sign the player back in 2013 when he was still plying his trade for Brazilian outfit Santos, before Barca hijacked the move. The Spanish money-bags have a solid history of hijacking Barca’s assets, and the most notable scenario was back in 2000 when Luis Figo, who was the best player in the world at that time while playing for Barca, moved to bitter rivals Real.
Luis Figo as a Catalan back in 1999
Figo celebrates one of his goals after switching from Camp Nou to the Santiago Bernabeu
The Portuguese legend was then booed countless times in his return to Camp Nou with Los Blancos, and it would be quite interesting to see if Neymar would want to walk down the same road. The 23-year-old has scored 14 goals in his 12 La Liga appearances this season, and provided five assists.
