Neymar was almost signed in 2005

Neymar, the great Brazilian football sensation who played last night in Montevideo the first leg of the Libertadores Cup Final with his team Santos against Peñarol, was almost signed by Real Madrid for a contract drafted by the father of footballer, Emilio Butragueño and Carlos Martínez de Albornoz (the last two by the white club). Sports daily AS has revealed a contract of 2005, consisting of four pages, but lack the third to have been lost in time.

Neymar

The contract joined Neymar with Real Madrid just until June 30, 2011, with clauses that demonstrate the true interest that Real Madrid, then chaired by Florentino Perez, had on the footballer: "Has been granted the sole and exclusive option, at the request of Real Madrid, to proceed to the signing of a contract of employment as professional athlete, at any time during the seasons 2005-06 to 2010-11, both inclusive".

In fact, one of the sections of the contract noted the payment of 5,100 euros to Neymar "for each official game that he plays with the first team of Real Madrid for at least 45 minutes per game". The problem is that Madrid was in free fall with the 'Galacticos' (not won a title since 2003) and finally the signing of the contract was postponed . Florentino resigned a year later (February 2006) and Neymar's agent, Wagner Ribeiro, left hints of what might happen over time: "In the near future, Neymar will play for Real Madrid".

Do not forget that Ribeiro is Robinho's agent and offered to the white club the opportunity to sign Neymar, just when Santos and Madrid were trading the hiring of the Milan's striker. The question is: Why Madrid did not close a signing that now will cost 40 million euros?