How do you respond to an embarrassing Champions League exit? In Real Madrid's case, it appears to be writing a $393M cheque for one player.
According to SPORT, Los Blancos are preparing a world-record bid for Neymar in an attempt to fill the void left by a certain Cristiano Ronaldo. After the Portuguese star departed in the summer, the club's hopes were that the likes of Bale and Asensio would step up and replace him but that miscalculation was evident for everyone to see against Ajax.
The Spanish giant struggled at home against the Dutch side and was thus beaten 4-1, with Benzema and Co. failing to threaten their opponent. As a result, the defending champion was eliminated from Europe in embarrassing fashion and Florentino Perez is now ready to loosen the purse strings as a result in order to rebuild the team.
The Brazilian superstar has long been on the radar of Los Merengues. The PSG sensation was committed to giving their quest for European success another go, hence his decision to remain in Paris, but the Selecao ace might be tempted by the Madrid outfit after watching Les Parisiens crash out at home against Man Utd.
Perez is keen on a summer overhaul of the squad and has set his eyes set on the former Barcelona man. SPORT claims that the president has already spoken with the Brazilian over the phone and has confessed his desire to bring the attacker back to Spain. While the Blaugrana and the Ligue 1 giant aren't on good terms, Real Madrid enjoys a good relationship with the French outfit and thus hopes to benefit from that.
If this move occurs, the Bernabeu side will break the record transfer fee spent by a club on a single player -- that title is currently held by PSG after luring Neymar away from Camp Nou. The 27-year-old would also be awarded a $51M-per-year contract, which would be an upgrade on his current wage package at the Parc des Princes, and will be placed under the helm of a new manager given Solari's inevitable sacking.
