Real Madrid News
Neymar opens up on rejecting Real Madrid – ‘Their offer was a blank cheque’
Speaking on the Brazilian podcast Podpah, former Barcelona and PSG superstar Neymar has opened up on how he rejected Real Madrid before signing for the Catalans in 2013.
At the time, the Brazilian winger was one of the most sought-after players in the world after exploding at Santos in his homeland.
Real Madrid, naturally, took a strong interest and made a push to sign Neymar but the winger ended up joining their bitter rivals Barcelona.
Neymar discusses Real Madrid offer
Talking about the approach from Real Madrid, Neymar revealed that the Spanish capital club offered him a ‘blank cheque’ to join the club as Florentino Perez liked him a lot.
“Real Madrid’s offer was a blank cheque, they told me I can have whatever I want… but I wanted Barça with my heart,” Neymar said on Podpah, as quoted by Fabrizio Romano.
The winger admitted that he would have stood to earn three times more money than he did at Barcelona if he signed for Real Madrid. However, his heart was set on joining the Blaugrana, with Lionel Messi also playing a role.
“I’d have made 3x more money at Real Madrid. Florentino always liked me. But Ronaldinho played there and I wanted to play with Messi,” he added.
Neymar went on to spend four years at Barcelona, forming a terrific attacking trio along with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
Having missed out on Neymar, Real Madrid assembled a superstar attacking trident of their own with Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Gareth Bale, who went on to achieve huge success at the club.
Real Madrid opted to renew Antonio Rudiger’s contract this past summer to keep him at the club for one more season.
The 33-year-old veteran defender, though, has not been performing at his best, with physical problems taking their toll and age starting to catch up with him.
As such, the expectation is that Los Blancos will not extend his contract again when his current one expires on 30 June 2027.
Tottenham eye Antonio Rudiger
And, according to reports relayed by AS, Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur are plotting a free-transfer swoop to sign Rudiger in the summer of next year.
The north London club are understood to be keen on reinforcing their backline next year and see the German defender as an option, given his experience in the Premier League and the fact that he would be available for free in the summer.
So far this season, Rudiger has played only five games for Real Madrid, amounting to a total of 396 minutes.
The 33-year-old has even chipped in with two goals, including the all-important winner in the 4-3 comeback victory over AS Roma on Wednesday night.
Time to move on?
Despite Rudiger being a hugely respected figure in the Real Madrid locker room, he is currently the third-choice centre-back for Jose Mourinho.
After all, summer signing Ibrahima Konate and Dean Huijsen have been preferred by the manager so far in the new season.
Moreover, with Eder Militao set to return imminently after a lengthy injury layoff, Rudiger’s game-time could be impacted further.
Given the situation and factoring in Real Madrid’s plans to sign another centre-back next summer, it is pretty much evident that Rudiger does not feature in the club’s plans for beyond this season.
As such, a separation of ways seems pretty likely when his contract expires, and Tottenham are now positioning themselves as early suitors to sign Rudiger as a free agent in 2027.
