In the most expensive transfer in the history of football (€222 million), Neymar left FC Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in 2017. The Brazilian's choice surprised a lot of people, including his father who revealed the real reason for this unexpected decision.
Given his talent, Neymar could have had a more glorious career. His record would perhaps be richer if he had spent less time away from the field. Or if he had made other decisions for his promising career. The attacking midfielder trained at Santos had approached the very best at FC Barcelona, a destination that he himself had favored according to Neymar Senior.
« Signing for Barça was totally his decision, said the father of the Brazilian international in comments relayed by Sport. I had offers from Barça and Real Madrid in my hands. That of Real Madrid was three times higher. But he said no, he wanted to play with these guys. His dream was to play for Barça. » A few years later, Neymar chose to leave Catalonia for Paris Saint-Germain in 2017. Many then suspected a certain jealousy towards his teammate Lionel Messi. But according to Neymar Senior, the current Al-Hilal star wanted to protect his Argentinian friend.
Barça wanted to downgrade Messi
« Going to PSG was also his decision, he decided to changerecalled his father and agent. At that time, we were in a very difficult situation at Barça because we didn't know what the sports management was thinking. It felt like the club wanted Neymar to take Messi's place and Neymar didn't want that. He decided to leave and go somewhere else. I wanted my son to stay at Barça. Until the last days, we tried to make sure he didn't leave. But he left because he didn't want to take Messi's place and become Barca's biggest star. » Everyone will have their own opinion on the credibility of this version.
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