What if Neymar signed for Real Madrid instead of Barcelona?

Real Madrid has always been happy to recruit great young talents from all over the world, but the club has a special affinity for Brazilian players, as is clear from the numerous moves over the years that have brought Los Blancos luminaries from the South American land like Roberto Carlos, Kaka, Marcelo, Ronaldo Nazario, and many more.

Back in 2006, when the Spanish club was seeing the height of Brazilian talents all playing for the white crest as the well-known Galacticos, there was one player who’d already wowed the club’s management so much that they were eager to recruit him as a 13-year-old and pampered him like a high-profile guest.

Being none other than Neymar Junior, this young phenom went on to make history, become one of football’s most beloved icons, and torch bearer of the Joga Bonito philosophy forward from Brazil.

Neymar began playing football in the streets of Brazil as a youngster and climbed the ranks to reach the highest level of Brazilian football, but even before that, he caught the attention of Real Madrid, whose scouts were blown away by the kid’s ability in comparison to his young age.

He was given a tour of Real Madrid’s facilities as well as firsthand experience of what many football fans would give up everything for, meeting and seeing the Galacticos play from the closest possible proximity. Los Blancos treated him exceptionally well since the player was terrific, and they had to do all in their ability to bring him into the white ranks.

But something didn’t set right with Neymar, and he opted to pass up the wonderful opportunity and return home. In following years, he emerged as one of Santos’ most intriguing players, and by the time he reached his peak adolescence, he was already a hot prospect the world was watching before deciding to join with Barcelona, and the rest, well, does not need any description
But what if Neymar did not alter his mind that day? What if he stayed and signed a contract with Real Madrid? What if he never went to Barcelona and instead climbed to the Brazilian throne at Real Madrid?

History would have been drastically different if Neymar opted to write his destiny at Real Madrid

If, theoretically, things had not gone as planned and Neymar had stayed at Real, the outcomes would have had a ripple effect and the way we view football would have been drastically different. If Neymar had merely stayed, the dynamics of the game would not have changed at all.

Neymar would have made history if he accepted to play for Real Madrid in the future. The wing under his direction would have been transformed and revolutionised. He would have had a significant effect on the histories of Real Madrid and Barcelona, among other things.

Neymar opted to move abroad in 2013 and took a flight to Barcelona, which prompted Real Madrid to go all in for Gareth Bale, making him the most expensive transfer at the time.

Gareth Bale at Real Madrid would not have been a possibility if Neymar had opted to play for the Whites. He would have undoubtedly made history, but what Bale brought to the table was distinct and could not be equaled even by Neymar’s towering presence at the time.

If Bale had not joined Los Blancos, the goal in the 2014 Champions League final that gave Madrid an end-of-game lead would not have transpired, and possibly La Decima would have been a more difficult case that would have gone to penalties, where the ball might have rolled either way.

Back at Barcelona, Neymar established one of the world’s deadliest attacking trios with Messi and Suarez, which would not have happened if he had taken a different route, and the history MSN wrote for the Catalan club would not have existed.

The most glorious and acclaimed period in Barcelona’s history would not have been possible, and the entire fate of Champions League triumphs, LaLiga supremacy, and Ballon d’Ors would have been altered forever.

If Neymar had decided to join Real Madrid’s youth academy on that day in 2006, he would not only have transformed the club’s dynamics, but the club would have turned him into a new player as well. As he would progress from the junior ranks to the first squad, the mindset and DNA of Real’s legacy would have formed an intrinsic part of Neymar’s professional demeanor, and the never-say-die mentality would have been woven into his character.

With Real Madrid’s ideals, his professionalism, which is frequently called into question due to the plainly poor dives, would have been remedied.

The player would have climbed the throne to take over the Brazilian lineage at Real Madrid, becoming the club’s most influential Brazilian player. The tales he would have crafted may be several and profound.

In 2014, Neymar would have unleashed hell on the pitch alongside Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo as the attacking three, doing far more than he did at Barcelona. The Brazilian has long been an admirer of Ronaldo, and their friendship would have started off well if they were teammates, yielding Real Madrid endless profitable benefits both on and off the field.

The prospect of Neymar signing for Real Madrid remained until the day the player ignored the club yet again and signed for Paris Saint-Germain in a trade that changed the world of football. The French club splashed a transfer price of 222 million euros on a single player, permanently changing the game’s transfer market scenario.

This deal caused enormous inflation in the market, and any ordinary player is now near a transfer value of 60 to 70 million euro very easily. The market would have been significantly different if the Brazilian had played for Real Madrid and had reasons to stay.

A fair value tendency would have prevailed in the market as it had previously, and Paris Saint-Germain’s conduct would not have occurred. That would also mean that Barcelona wouldn’t have the huge budget to sign players like Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele, and others, which would have changed the local rivalry with Real Madrid and could have gone either way in terms of strength or weakness.

In the end, Real Madrid missed out on a franchise player who had the potential to write history not once, not twice, but multiple times. This season, Neymar is having one of his finest years ever, and recollections of having him in white are again touched up repeatedly.