Brazil star Neymar has revealed what made him decide to leave a Real Madrid trial early when he was a young boy.
Neymar arrived on football's world stage as a wonderkid during his Santos days, and would eventually establish himself as arguably one of the beautiful game's best players alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at Barcelona, but things could have been very different.
Speaking on the Fenomenos Podcast, the Paris Saint-Germain superstar disclosed that he was on the brink of joining Los Blancos as a youngster, but eventually opted against making the move.
"When I was 10, Real Madrid invited me for a try-out. I was thrilled, I was so happy, I watched their practice. It was during the Galacticos era. I watched their game," the Paris Saint-Germain attacker said.
"I watched a game and I think all the goals were scored by Brazilians. I think two by Ronaldo, one by Robinho and a free-kick from Julio Baptista and another by Roberto Carlos.
"After the game, I got a picture with all of them. I was over the moon.
"I stayed there for a week, for the try-out. It lasted for four of five days. On the fifth day they wanted to take me to a championship being held in Barcelona MIC Cup but I quit. I got really homesick and I wanted to go back home.
"It was pretty much all set up for me to play at Real Madrid, but then I got back."
Neymar's career has panned out well despite his reluctance to play in the Spanish capital when he was a young boy.
He went on to score 105 goals for Barcelona, won the UEFA Champions League, got his hands on the LaLiga title twice, and commanded the largest transfer fee in the history of football when he signed for Paris Saint-Germain for €222 million (R3.8 billion) in 2017.
