With the growth of football, the transfer fees being charged by clubs for certain players have skyrocketed in the recent years. While Manchester United and Paul Pogba have broken the record this year Real Madrid were the record holders for a considerable amount of time with a number of big-money moves over the last two decades.
Since the record-breaking and shocking transfer of Luis Figo from Barcelona to Real Madrid, the Los Blancos have had a reputation of making record transfer moves, be it Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka or Gareth Bale. However, there was one player who Florentino Perez had his eyes on for a long time. Neymar Junior was the hottest property in world football in 2013.
Also read: What if: Cristiano Ronaldo never left Manchester United
Neymar Junior was the hottest property in world football in 2013. But as things turned out, the Brazillian youngster ditched the Los Blancos to move to their arch-rivals F.C Barcelona in 2013. This led to Real Madrid breaking the bank for Gareth Bale on the deadline day of the 2013 transfer window.
However, here is our take on how things could have turned out if the Brazillian chose to move to the capital city of Spain instead of Barcelona.
#1 A Ballon d’Or less for Lionel Messi
In Neymar’s first season, Lionel Messi and Neymar himself often picked up injuries which led to both players not having enough time together on the pitch. Alexis Sanchez was let to lead the Barcelona attack that season. However, in the second season, Neymar and Messi quickly built a fantastic partnership that would be a major factor in Barcelona’s success that season.
With the introduction of Luis Suarez, Neymar, Messi and Suarez formed a formidable trio that the world now knows as ‘MSN.’ While Messi had a fantastic individual season in 2015, the team success came down to the contribution of his teammates and one player in particular who was pretty much Leo’s sidekick that season - Neymar. Messi then went on to win his fifth Ballon d’Or while Neymar finished third in the race.
#2 No Gareth Bale at Real Madrid
While Real Madrid’s interest in Neymar is no secret, the youngster made up his mind on his move at least a year in advance to his switch. This comes down to one fateful telephone conversation between Neymar, his father, a group of his agents, Florentino Perez, and a few representatives of Santos and Real Madrid. Instead of selling his club for Neymar’s growth, the Real Madrid President spoke with egoistic pride stating that the teenager should be grateful for their interest.
That shut the door for his move and Barcelona capitalized on this by signing Neymar. The news did not go down well in Madrid with fans upset over the whole transfer saga. Perez and his team were in a massive amount of pressure which led to them splashing their money on Gareth Bale. This also saw Mesut Ozil and Higuain leave the club. However, things worked out well as the team went on to win La Decima that season.
#3 A more intense Argentina vs Brazil rivalry
When it comes to international football, the rivalry between Argentina and Brazil is second to none. A rivalry that originated from the rapid growth of football in the South American countries in the early 20th century which coincided with political tensions during that time had intensified over the years to come. However, the rivalry has not been as fierce as it was in the last in the last decade.
A major factor behind this was Argentina’s talisman Lionel Messi being teammates with some of Brazil’s most important players in the recent years like Ronaldinho and Dani Alves.
However, Neymar and Messi’s close friendship at the moment further reduced the intensity of this clash. Had Neymar joined Real Madrid, we would have surely witnessed a good amount of fireworks when the two teams faced off.
#4 No Treble in 2014-15 for Enrique and Barcelona
When Tata Martino was sacked by Barcelona, Luis Enrique had a formidable task ahead of him to coach a Barcelona team that was in a transition period. Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez were two of his high-profile transfer in his first season. After a mediocre start to the season Enrique let Neymar, Suarez and Messi choose their positions on the field and since then it was all smiles for the Barcelona Manager.
After the winter break, the trio almost looked unstoppable and it was Neymar who stepped up in the Champions League. The Brazillian scored in the Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals of the Champions league ending up as joint second highest goalscorer in the tournament.
It is certain that without Neymar the trio would not be able to amass 122 goals between them in their first season together and hence win a treble.
#5 Good fortunes for Manchester United
Not only did Real Madrid take Manchester United’s best player in 2009, the Spanish giants have also been after their transfer targets in the recent past. Two of the biggest moves that could have possibly changed the fortunes for Manchester United were those of Luka Modric and Gareth Bale. Luka’s move to Real after ditching the Red Devils left Manchester United chasing Gareth Bale.
A combination of persuasion for Modric, the opportunity of playing for one of the world’s best teams, and the humongous sum of money involved, led to Gareth Bale picking Real Madrid over Manchester United.
However, Real Madrid would not have gone all out for Bale had it not been for Neymar turning them down. It can hence be said that had Neymar joined Real Madrid, Manchester United could have benefitted a lot by securing Gareth Bale in 2013.
