Brazilian forward Neymar could have been terrorising La Liga defences for years already – and for Real Madrid – had the club taken up the option to sign him a few years ago.
AS newspaper has a cover story on the 21-year-old, who moved to Barcelona this summer for 50 million euros from Santos. But in 2005-06 a 14-year-old teenager by the name of Neymar was invited over to Madrid to play and train with the Los Blancos youth team for two weeks.
Indeed, according to AS, the coaches were impressed with what they saw. The youngster didn’t look out of place playing with the likes of Daniel Carvajal and Alex Fernanadez. But with a clause of 60 thousand euros to make the deal happen, Madrid decided against it.
Elsewhere, Gareth Bale has spoken about his relief at getting the transfer from Tottenham Hotspur completed finally. He said he is looking forward to getting onto the pitch and showing the fans what he can do. Despite not having a pre-season, Bale assured fans he will be fit and ready to play after the internationals this weekend.
Marca goes with the great keeper debate on its front page. The paper claims Carlo Ancelotti will use Iker Casillas as the Champions League goalkeeper as the sets out on its quest for La Decima. Meanwhile, Diego Lopez will retain his place in La Liga.
