Neymar explains choosing to join Barcelona over Real Madrid – ‘I obviously wanted to play with Messi’ | OneFootball

Over a decade ago, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid battled for the signing of a certain Brazilian sensation from Santos, named Neymar, with the Catalans ending up coming out on top.

Both the La Liga behemoths were eager to land the Brazilian icon who had become one of the biggest names in South American football at the time.

But it was Barça who prevailed in the summer of 2013, and went on to reap great rewards with his acquisition for the next four years.

Neymar explains decision to choose Barcelona over Real Madrid

Now, speaking on the podcast of another former Barcelona and Brazil great Romario, Neymar explained why he opted to join Barcelona over Real Madrid.

“I don’t regret my choice to pick Barcelona over Real Madrid. I went with my heart there. I obviously wanted to play with Messi! Barça was the team I loved,” said Neymar, as quoted by Fabrizio Romano.

Continuing to profess his love and admiration for the Blaugrana, the current Al-Hilal superstar added:

“I always watched, since the era of Ronaldinho I always said: I want to play there. It happened.”

Reflecting on the transfer came about and how he ended up making the crucial decision, Neymar explained: “Those were intense days. It was 2 or 3 days where I wasn’t even training, just going from my house to the office to resolve this.

“It was Real Madrid’s people calling me from one side & Barcelona’s people calling me from the other. Both presidents were talking to me. I couldn’t rationalize. I imagined myself playing for both…

“But then my heart spoke louder. I ended up choosing Barcelona.”

Neymar discusses early struggles at Barcelona

The legendary ‘MSN” (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

The Brazilian forward also opened up on the struggles he endured early in his tenure at Barcelona and how Lionel Messi ended up helping him out.

“I spent the first 6 months at Barça with butterflies in my stomach. I was like… ‘F***, I can’t dribble anyone, I can’t get by anyone, I’m doing everything all wrong,’” recalled Neymar.

“There was a day I was so despaired. It was going half-time. I remember it until this day, it was against Athletic Club, I went into the dressing room pissed at myself. I was playing so bad. I went into the washroom crying by myself thinking ‘What am I doing?’.

“Then knocked on the door and it was Messi. He asked me: ‘Why are you crying? I said ‘Nah I’m good, I’m good.’

“Then Dani Alves came and Messi said: ‘Calm down, we’re here to help you. We want you to play your best football like you did at Santos, without any pressure. If you need anything you can count on me.’

“After that, I became more confident. More excited to play and everything started to go well!”

Neymar spent four successful years at FC Barcelona, forming a deadly partnership with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, with the trio even leading the Catalans to a historic treble in the 2014/15 season. He left the club to join PSG in 2017 in a world-record transfer.