Real Madrid made €45m bid to sign Neymar, Florentino Perez confirms

The Brazil star was close to joining Real Madrid before deciding to continue his football at Barcelona.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has lifted the lid on the club’s efforts to sign Neymar in 2011.

Following an incredible spell at Santos, Neymar kick-started his European career by joining Barcelona in 2013. The transfer has reemerged in the media recently, with a Brazilian company suing Barcelona and Santos officials of collusion.

DIS, which owned 40% of Neymar’s sporting rights, claim Barca‘s announced transfer fee of £50m is around £20m less than what they actually paid Santos to secure his services.

A Spanish court has called Perez to provide evidence about the move. The Real Madrid president has revealed the Blancos were keen to add Neymar to their ranks two years before his move to Camp Nou.

“I don’t know Neymar, I’ve never spoken to him on a personal level. We were interested in signing Neymar about 10 years ago. In 2011, Real Madrid made Santos an offer for Neymar. I believe it was €45m. It’s written in the summary,” he said.

“Players go where they want to go. I think Neymar wanted to go to Barcelona and that’s why he went to Barcelona. The offer in 2011 was €45m, not €60m.

“I don’t know or remember if DIS had any rights to Neymar, I remember they sent us a letter… I don’t remember anything at all. We have provided all documentation to the abstract. I guess we didn’t respond to the DIS letter because we had nothing to say.

“We did not play a very active role in this negotiation. I have been at Real Madrid for 18 years and all the offers we have made to players have been transparent. All these questions at Real Madrid are dealt with by the sports management. I don’t know anything about what you’re telling me.”