Real Madrid president Florentino Perez lined up a huge offer for Paris Saint Germain superstar Neymar during the summer, according to Ramon Calderon.
Los Blancos lost their club record goalscorer and talisman during the last transfer window as Cristiano Ronaldo swapped the Santiago Bernabeu for the Allianz Stadium in Turin with Juventus.
In the months since his departure, Madrid have struggled in his absence, which has made the club’s apparent decision not to sign a replacement even more baffling, however, new details have emerged on Sunday.
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According to Culture PSG, ex Madrid president Calderon has revealed that Perez is absolutely hell-bent on signing Neymar and he had even prepared a €350 million bid for the Brazilian before Ronaldo left the club, which ended up alienating the Portuguese star.
As per Culture PSG, Calderon told reporters: “The president was obsessed with signing Neymar. He wanted to give € 350m to PSG and he offered the player almost twice the salary of Cristiano ”
“As a result, Cristiano has logically developed the idea of finding a new challenge. For him, it was clear: ‘The club wants to get rid of me, he wants me to leave’.”
The former Los Blanco’s chief went on to suggest that the club’s pursuit of Neymar is far from over, adding: “Neymar is the great goal of the president and I think he will try again.”
This latest news comes ahead of Barcelona hosting their arch-rivals in La Liga on Sunday, in the first El Clasico of the 2018-19 campaign.
The Daily Mirror reports that Neymar has been linked with a move back to to the Camp Nou, but Perez will clearly do everything he can to steal the 26-year-old away from their grasp in 2019.
If Madrid lose heavily against their arch-rivals the pressure will only increase on club officials and head coach Julen Lopetegui in the coming days and with the January window fast approaching, Neymar could soon be on the lips of supporters across Spain once again.