Giovane Elber has claimed that Bayern Munich turned down the opportunity to sign Barcelona forward Neymar when he was 16.
The highly rated youngster, who was also a target for Real Madrid during recent years, last summer completed a €57m transfer to the Camp Nou from Santos.
However, according to one of the player’s compatriots, Bayern were also once in the picture to pick up the forward.
“Neymar was at a different level to everyone else when he was 16,” retired Bayern striker Elber has told Welt this week.
‘But he was very expensive due to contractual obligations. Bayern thought about signing him, but eventually they opted against the transfer. Nobody knew he was going to continue to grow as he has done. From that episode, Bayern decided not to go to Brazil to directly sign any player, except in special cases.”
