“Many clubs wanted me to play there, but my dream was always to play for Barça”
The Paris Saint Germain striker Neymar da Silva has denied that he participated in the negotiations for his transfer to FC Barcelona from Santos FC in 2013: “My father was in charge. I sign what he tells me”.
The footballer has declared this Tuesday at the Barcelona Court in the trial in which he faces a sentence of five years in prison for alleged fraud and corruption in his transfer to the Blaugrana club, and has chosen to answer only the questions of the prosecution and its defense.
Neymar has disregarded the negotiations of the contract that he signed in 2011 with Barça, committing himself to go to the club in 2014, and also of the renewal that he had previously signed with Santos FC, which meant increasing the termination clause but shortening the term so that it ended in 2014 instead of 2015.
When asked if other clubs tried to sign him between 2011 and 2013, when he had already signed with FC Barcelona but was still playing for Santos FC, he replied: “I knew about the rumors of other clubs that wanted to sign me, but my dream was to play with the Barcelona”.
“The truth is that I had options, many clubs wanted me to go play there, but my dream was always to play for Barça. My dream was always to play there, since I was a child,” he said about his decision to move to Barcelona.
He has detailed that his last two offers were from Real Madrid and Barça: “At the last moment it was Barcelona or Madrid and my heart always asked me to go to Barça.”
