Who doesn't know the superstar Paris Saint-Gemain, Neymar. In addition to the quality it has, the sensational transfer from Barcelona to PSG with a dowry of 222 million euros (Rp3, 7 trillion) also helped catapult its name in the international football scene.
But who would have thought, behind the skill level of his god, Neymar was never wasted talent by one of the Russian club, Lokomotiv Moscow.
Reported by Marca, the moment occurred ten years ago, when the club nicknamed Railroaders had the opportunity to bring Neymar at the age of 16 years, with a much cheaper price.
Lokomotiv who saw Neymar's talent in the exhibition match at the Mediterranean Cup tournament, decided to cancel recruit the Brazilian player and prefer players from their own academy, Alan Gagatov, who is now a free agent.
The former president of Lokomotiv club, Nikolai Naumov, said if they bring Neymar for about 10 million euros, it is a big gamble despite the recommendations of a talent scout who believes Neymar's talent is extraordinary.
"We are considering whether buying Neymar will be useful or not, but actually we want to buy it because our talent scouts see the potential in him but there is great doubt, because he is young and we do not know how he adapts in Russia," Naumov said. from Marca.
"We do not want to take risks, I do not really remember the price, it's about 10 million euros, paying a young man from another continent with company money, we have to be careful," Naumov continued.
Lokomotiv's decision to draw interest in Neymar keeps the player on the junior side of Santos. New in 2009 Neymar started his career in Santos senior team until 2013, before finally moving to Barcelona and now costumed PSG.