Barcelona’s Neymar could be following the footsteps of Figo, as the Brazilian international has been linked with Real Madrid in the last few days.
According to Spanish newspaper Marca, Neymar and his father-cum-agent met with Real Madrid before the Ballon d’or ceremony in Zurich, with Los Blancos willing to break the 23-year-old’s 190 million release clause at Barcelona.
Barcelona have offered Neymar 19 million euros per season to sign a new deal with the Blaugrana, which is likely to be signed at the end of the 2015-16 campaign. However, Marca suggests Real Madrid are trying their best to sign Neymar.(via 101greatgoals )
Real Madrid’s transfer ban could come in the way of signing Neymar.
A disappointing 2015 saw Real Madrid go trophy-less, as rivals Barcelona won the terrific treble. 2016 has also begun with a blow, with Real Madrid facing a two-window transfer ban. Neymar’s signing depends on whether Zinedine Zidane and Florentino Perez can annul the ban imposed by FIFA due to discrepancies in their transfer activities in the past.
Should Real Madrid miss out on the Brazilian, the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United are also on queue to bid for the Brazilian international.
One of the BBC will have to be shown the exit door. Who will it be?
Although Neymar’s release clause is within reach for the financially powerful Real Madrid, they would likely have to sell one of their famed front three. Selling Benzema wouldn’t make any sense, since Real Madrid have a dearth of strikers. Securing Neymar’s signature would come at the cost of either Bale or Ronaldo, with the latter likelier to leave. If Giullem Balague’s comments from last year are to be believed, Real Madrid have been conveniently making it look like the Portuguese superstar wants to leave, when it is actually the club that wants to offload him to bring in a star name for the future.