Neymar opens up on rejecting Real Madrid – ‘Their offer was a blank cheque’ | OneFootball

Speaking on the Brazilian podcast Podpah, former Barcelona and PSG superstar Neymar has opened up on how he rejected Real Madrid before signing for the Catalans in 2013.

At the time, the Brazilian winger was one of the most sought-after players in the world after exploding at Santos in his homeland.

Real Madrid, naturally, took a strong interest and made a push to sign Neymar but the winger ended up joining their bitter rivals Barcelona.

Neymar discusses Real Madrid offer

Talking about the approach from Real Madrid, Neymar revealed that the Spanish capital club offered him a ‘blank cheque’ to join the club as Florentino Perez liked him a lot.

“Real Madrid’s offer was a blank cheque, they told me I can have whatever I want… but I wanted Barça with my heart,” Neymar said on Podpah, as quoted by Fabrizio Romano.

Neymar could have signed for Real Madrid in 2013. (Photo by Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images)

The winger admitted that he would have stood to earn three times more money than he did at Barcelona if he signed for Real Madrid. However, his heart was set on joining the Blaugrana, with Lionel Messi also playing a role.

“I’d have made 3x more money at Real Madrid. Florentino always liked me. But Ronaldinho played there and I wanted to play with Messi,” he added.

Neymar went on to spend four years at Barcelona, forming a terrific attacking trio along with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

Having missed out on Neymar, Real Madrid assembled a superstar attacking trident of their own with Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Gareth Bale, who went on to achieve huge success at the club.