To call the summer a tumultuous one for Neymar would be to call Monday the worst day of the week – glaringly obvious.
After all, Neymar’s tumults were played out for public attention all summer long. But were they played out in full? Of course not. Even with the microscopic eye for content the football world now has, there remains an underbelly of secret talks and dealings.
A report Marca now claims to shed further light on the state of mind of the Brazilian during those trying months.
As per the publication, it is understood that between 1 August and 20 August, ?Neymar
These players included captain Sergio Ramos, who praised of the player’s abilities, alongside compatriots Casemiro and Marcelo, who were understandably eager to give Neymar a warm welcome, with Ballon d’Or holder Luka Modric also involved.
The principal message of those conversations was essentially his desire to join Real, and an attempt to pass it on to gain some credibility and influence.
As for the club, they are understood to have done a great deal of analysis over the potential for a transfer, while assessing who they could sell to get it over the line. This all happened, according to Marca, with the ‘knowledge’ of PSG’s sporting director Leonardo.
Florentino Perez is known to have been somewhat hesitant and thought the cost of the deal would end up being too much but he did acknowledge the player’s quality and was not dismissing the move out of hand.
Ultimately, of course, unwanted high earners like Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez were not shifted, and on 20 August the club officially told their French counterparts that they would not be submitting an offer, sparking panic from the player, who turned back to Barcelona without success.
More recently, the ?Brazilian picked up an injury on international duty and will be out of action for the next four weeks.
Let’