Chelsea “made an offer” for Neymar, confirmed one of the player’s representatives, but the Premier League outfit failed to convince the player to make the move.
The Brazilian was impressing the whole of Europe on a weekly basis while playing for Santos in his homeland.
Chelsea lodged a bid on the same day that Neymar made his senior debut for the Brazil national team – August 10, 2010 – to rival offers from elsewhere.
“There were many calls for him,” Wagner Ribiero told Spanish publication AS.
“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.
“Then came other offers from Bayern Munich and Juventus, with whom I had a meeting in Turin.”
Neymar had to wait another three years before making a long-awaited move to Europe when Barcelona made €57m (£48.6m) for the then-21-year-old.