Florentino Pérez, president of Real Madrid, was unable to sign Neymar from Santos in 2013, despite offering a superior transfer fee and wages than their rivals Barcelona.
Neymar has become the player most coveted by Florentino Pérez, and speculations about his future have been going on for quite a while with media linking the Brazilian to the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain. Now, there are some new revelations regarding Neymar’s failed trip to Madrid in 2006, aged just 14. According to El Confidencial, Juni Calafat, who was the main Real Madrid scout in South America, is keeping a WhatsApp message received from Neymar few years ago. Juni Calafat’s friendship with Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Kaká allowed him to approach Neymar and his family, and it was therefore he who negotiated a 14-year-old Neymar’s trip for a trial at Real Madrid in 2006. At the end of the tests, however, Los Blancos were unable to keep the Brazilian teenager. But it seems that the friendship between Juni Calafat and Neymar remains, and the report states that, when Calafat was in Spain for a family party in 2014, he received a WhatsApp message from Neymar, which according to one of the guests at the party, read: “Juni, you have arrived safely to Spain? You know I’m a Madridista. Hala Madrid!”
Florentino Pérez, president of Real Madrid, was unable to sign Neymar from Santos in 2013, despite offering a superior transfer fee and wages than their rivals Barcelona.
Neymar has become the player most coveted by Florentino Pérez, and speculations about his future have been going on for quite a while with media linking the Brazilian to the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain. Now, there are some new revelations regarding Neymar’s failed trip to Madrid in 2006, aged just 14. According to El Confidencial, Juni Calafat, who was the main Real Madrid scout in South America, is keeping a WhatsApp message received from Neymar few years ago. Juni Calafat’s friendship with Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Kaká allowed him to approach Neymar and his family, and it was therefore he who negotiated a 14-year-old Neymar’s trip for a trial at Real Madrid in 2006. At the end of the tests, however, Los Blancos were unable to keep the Brazilian teenager. But it seems that the friendship between Juni Calafat and Neymar remains, and the report states that, when Calafat was in Spain for a family party in 2014, he received a WhatsApp message from the player, which according to one of the guests at the party, read: “Juni, you have arrived safely to Spain? You know I’m a Madridista. Hala Madrid!”
