It was believed that Neymar would still be at the top even now, at 34 years old. Many factors contributed to the fact that he isn’t, that his career began to decline as soon as he entered his fourth decade. Things could have been very different if he had been more committed to a lifestyle befitting an athlete and had made some different decisions. And while we will never truly know, we can at least wonder how not only his career but also football history would have looked if, for example, instead of joining Barcelona upon arriving in Europe, he had gone to Real Madrid. Or even Bayern! And he had the opportunity—what an opportunity! Much has already been said about the ‘war’ between the Spanish giants to sign him, but the Brazilian footballer revealed during his appearance on the ‘Podpah’ podcast that he also had an offer from Munich—directly from Pep Guardiola!Neymar: ‘Mbappe was jealous of Messi’It was the year 2012. Pep Guardiola had already won everything there was to win with Barcelona and was looking for a new challenge. The Catalan had already left Camp Nou, though it wasn’t yet known which club he would take over. During this time, Guardiola was secretly working on strengthening his future team and wanted one of the most talented players in the world at that moment to be waiting for him when he arrived at the Allianz Arena. He was so determined to secure Neymar’s signature that one night, at 2 AM, he showed up outside the hotel room of the Brazilian wonderkid.”I almost ended up at Bayern because of Pep Guardiola. I was in Switzerland to receive the Puskás Award and was in my room when my father called me—it was two in the morning. I answered, and he told me to open the door. I was in my boxers… And at the door were my dad, Pep Guardiola, and a translator. Pep told me, ‘I want to sign you and take you with me to whichever club I go to. I will make you the best player in the world.’ He showed me papers, opened his laptop, and showed me where I would play. He also said, ‘If you don’t score 60 goals in a season, I’ll change my name.’ I said, ‘Okay, but which team?’ He replied, ‘I can’t tell you yet because I haven’t left Barcelona.’ But in the end, I convinced him, and he revealed, ‘I’m signing with Bayern. I know it’s a cold city, but I will take care of you” he revealed.”I do feel bitterness toward the people running PSG’However, his heart said—Barcelona, even though Real Madrid did not give up until the very end.”In the end, I decided to join Barcelona, but I really considered going to Bayern. Real Madrid offered me a blank check—they said I could have whatever I wanted… But my heart told me—Barca. I would have earned three times more at Real; Florentino Perez always liked me. But Ronaldinho played at Barca, and I wanted to play with Messi” said the Brazilian. Neymar is back – stunning goal directly from a corner!And he did. He shared the dressing room with him for almost a decade—first at Barcelona, then at Paris Saint-Germain—and during that time, he picked up many tricks from one of the greatest players the world has ever seen. But the Brazilian also recalled one specific aspect that Messi wanted to improve on and asked him for help.“I was the one who gave him a touch. It was the penalty. We were practicing penalties at PSG and he said, ‘F**k, how can you take a penalty like that?’. I looked at him and said, ‘Are you crazy? You’re Messi, for f**k’s sake! If I can take it like that, you can too. Just practice, for f**k’s sake. Practice and try‘. Then he started laughing and said, ‘I’ll try too’. That’s when it started” revelead Neymar. LA LIGA – MATCHDAY 26Friday 23.00: (3.10) Valladolid (3.30) Las Palmas (2.50)Saturday 16.00: (2.25) Girona (3.40) Celta (3.20)18.15: (2.35) Rayo Vallecano (3.25) Sevilla (3.15)20.30: (4.90) Betis (3.60) Real Madrid (1.75)23.00: (2.10) Atl.Madrid (3.35) Ath.Bilbao (3.60)Sunday 16.00: (3.10) Leganes (2.90) Getafe (2.65)18.15: (1.30) Barcelona (5.50) Sociedad (10.0)20.30: (2.30) Mallorca (3.10) Alaves (3.40)23.00: (2.35) Osasuna (3.15) Valencia (3.25)Monday 23.00: (1.43) Villareal (4.50) Espanyol (7.50)***odds are subject to change***
