Chelsea came close to signing Neymar after Barcelona star’s dad was wowed with promise of making his son the club’s Michael Jordan
Brazil hero, then playing for Santos, was aggressively pursued by Blues and Real Madrid before signing for Barca
CHELSEA came close to signing Neymar after the Barcelona star's dad was wowed with their promise of making his son the club's Michael Jordan.
A teenage Neymar was pursued aggressively by all the European giants while still playing for Brazilian side Santos.
But it was the Blues and owner Roman Abramovich who came closest to sealing his signature before he agreed to move to Spain.
And it was a dramatic sales pitch by Michael Emenalo, Chelsea's director of football, that floored Neymar's dad, Neymar Santos Snr.
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Emenalo promised to make Neymar Chelsea's version of basketball legend MJ, who defined the all-conquering Chicago Bulls throughout the Nineties.
He explained Emenalo's captivating speech "was the first time that I saw Neymar's father listen to someone for more than 30 minutes without looking at his mobile".
It was in August 2010 that Chelsea made their first offer to sign Neymar for around £30million - the same day he made his Brazil debut against the USA.
A hotel meeting in New York included Neymar's dad, Pini Zahavi, the Israeli super agent who knew Abramovich, a group of Chelsea officials and Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro, the Santos president.
But Luis Alvaro "ended the conversation quickly" after being "spooked by Chelsea's push to sign Neymar immediately".
It was between this meeting and Emenalo's pitch that Real Madrid tried to swoop.
In late 2011 a bid of around £38million was made and rejected, and not even a fancy lunch in Paris with Florentino Perez could change any minds.
Even so, Motta drew up a contract between the club and Neymar.
But it is claimed that Neymar always had his heart set on Barcelona.
And when he was 19 he secretly agreed to join the Catalan club.
Then on 15 November 2011 he signed a deal pledging to join Barcelona in 2014 for around the same money Real Madrid put on the table.
And that move effectively ended Chelsea's hopes of signing him.