Neymar was on the cusp of joining Chelsea at 18 before sealing move to Barcelona in 2013

Neymar's agent recently revealed that Premier League side Chelsea were once very close to getting hold of the Brazilian back in 2010. Neymar rose to fame when he was just an 18-year-old playing for Santos. He made the world stand up and take notice during his teenage days, putting on the razzle-dazzle in a Santos shirt. Neymar made his Santos debut in the year 2009 and was rewarded with a call up to the Brazil senior team in 2010. Brazil's then-coach, Mano Menezes gave Neymar his first international start in August 2010 and he seemingly caught the eye of the Chelsea scouts. 

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Neymar transfer to Chelsea could have been a possibility: Neymar agent

While Speaking with AS, Neymar's former agent Wagner Ribeiro said, "There were many calls for him. I received an official offer from Chelsea the day Neymar debuted with the Brazilian team in 2010. They made an offer, we studied it, but in the end, we didn’t decide anything. On that occasion, we transferred it to Neymar’s father and the player himself." Ribeiro added, "Then came other offers from Bayern Munich and Juventus, with whom I had a meeting in Turin."

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Chelsea were the kings of England at the time as they won the Premier League and FA Cup in the previous season under Carlo Ancelotti. It was reported that Chelsea made a bid of around £25 million but the transfer didn't go through. Several European giants like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus and Bayern Munich reportedly approached Neymar alongside Chelsea. Neymar decided to go with Barcelona and joined the Catalans in 2013. 

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Neymar became one of the best players in the world while playing with Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi at Barcelona. The famed MSN attack (Messi, Suarez, Neymar) laid waste to LaLiga for years. Neymar scored a total of 105 goals and provided 77 assists in a total of 186 LaLiga appearances for Barcelona. The Brazilian left Barcelona to join PSG in 2017 for a record sum of over €222 million. However, there are some strong rumours which suggest that Neymar could be back at Camp Nou next season.

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