The Italian giants were close to signing Neymar in £30 million deal.
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Barcelona’s new striker Neymar was reportedly close to joining Italian Champions Juventus two years ago according to agent Franco Zavaglia..
Goal.com reports that Neymar was on the verge of signing for Juve, with a reported fee of £30 million agreed between the Italian Champions and Santos.
Zavaglia reportedly was told by the Italian club to go to Brazil and negotiate a deal for Neymar and reached an agreement with the Sao Paulo club fairly quickly but the move fell through after Santos success at the Copa Libertadores.
“I went to Turin to take on the job and discuss a strategy and then left for Sao Paulo with a mandate to sign Neymar. Brazilian football was starting to get richer, but Santos needed the money, so they were ready to cash in on Neymar,” Zavaglia told Tuttosport.
Zavaglia went on to say that because of the Brazilian clubs success at the Copa Libertadores, they had the finances available to keep Neymar at the club and were able to agree a new and improved contract with the striker.
Neymar stayed at Santos for two more seasons and then signed for Barcelona this summer for a reported fee of £48 million.
The striker looks set to form a dangerous striking partnership with Argentine star Lionel Messi.