Barcelona and Brasil superstar Neymar reveals that he could've joined Real Madrid more than a decade ago. The 24-year-old – who is currently on international duty with the Selecao at the 2016 Rio Olympics – said he considered joining the Los Blancos but ultimately backed out because he felt he was too young.
"I was 13 and it was my first time in Europe. At that time, I did not feel comfortable, I did not see myself happy and able to stay away from Brazil so young." Neymar told L'Equipe.
"But I didn't feel ready to move away from Brazil [to Madrid], there was no hurry. My priority was to be happy, become a professional footballer and then later move to Europe.
"I made the decision together with my family to stay, even though at that time a lot of Brazilian kids were already moving to Europe."
Real Madrid were said to be the other big party when Neymar was finally ready to move to Europe – apart from Barcelona. The Brasilian held a meeting with his family hours before choosing where he'd play with officials from two clubs reportedly waiting outside his house for an answer.
While one was confirmed to be those of FC Barcelona's, the other was always kept silent. Real Madrid are linked with signing Brasilian almost every transfer window. The former Santos star is in a heap of trouble over unpaid taxes with the Catalan club and those insecurities along with the fact that he's playing with someone as charismatic as Lionel Messi forces such rumours to take birth.
Earlier this window, it was reported that Paris Saint-Germain were genuinely interested in signing him along with Premier League giants Manchester United - who have since used that kind of money to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus.
Real Madrid have had a quite transfer window so far only confirming the resigning of Alvaro Morata from Juventus. Barcelona, meanwhile, have signed Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Digne, Andre Gomes and Denis Suarez.
