In an interview with the Spanish outlet AS, André Cury looked back on Neymar’s 2013 transfer from Santos to Barcelona. The renowned agent revealed that the Brazilian star could have joined Real Madrid instead.
Back in 2013, Neymar was making his European debut. Signed by Barça for €57 million (or €83 million according to Spanish courts), the Brazilian dazzled football fans. Alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, he enjoyed four successful seasons in Catalonia, including a Champions League title.
But things could have gone differently. According to André Cury, who played a key role in Neymar’s move to Barça, Real Madrid pulled out all the stops to try and sign the forward — to no avail.
“Madrid offered €100 million more than Barcelona for Neymar. A hundred million euros. The player chose Barcelona, obviously thanks to our work, since we were working for them at the time. Maybe if I’d been working for Madrid, Neymar would have ended up there instead (laughs). (…) As I’m telling you, Madrid offered €100 million more than Barça. On top of the salary, the transfer fee, and the €40 million penalty Barcelona had to pay because of a pre-agreement with Neymar, Madrid was ready to put down €100 million more than Barça, who eventually gave him a five-year contract,” Cury told AS.
“In total, it amounted to over €200 million. The payments weren’t yearly salaries, they were bonuses. They offered him a fortune. Back then, I did the math — if you combined Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets in 2013, the four of them together didn’t reach €100 million. Neymar came to Barcelona to fulfill a dream. Just football things,” he added.