know what the clause was, but in 2011, the sporting directors of Real Madrid made an offer to Santos. I think it was 45 million euros. It’s the only offer I know and it’s in Real Madrid’s files Although Real Madrid were close to signing the forward, Florentino made it clear that Neymar preferred to play for Barca: “The players go where they want. I think Neymar wanted to go to Barcelona and that’s why he chose the Blaugrana shirt.”
He also commented that he did not know if there was a fine for Barca in case they wanted to sign Neymar after Real Madrid made the first offer: “I had no knowledge of that.” On the other hand, Florentino explained that he did not know if DIS had any percentage of federal rights over Neymar: “I don’t know or I don’t remember if DIS had rights over Neymar.
I remember they sent us a letter. I don’t remember meeting or talking to Juan Figer. We have provided all the documentation in the offer summary. I have not participated in anything. I think we didn’t respond to DIS’s letter because we had nothing to say. We did not have a very active participation in that negotiation”
Finally, Florentino stated: “I do not know Neymar, I have never spoken to him on a personal level. Not even with Odilio Rodrigues, at that time the vice president of Santos”