Sport
“I Want to Sign You and Make You the Best” – Neymar Recalls Guardiola’s Offer
Neymar has shared an interesting story about how Pep Guardiola once tried to sign him for Bayern Munich and even made a bold promise to him.
The Brazilian forward revealed that after winning the Puskás Award, he was nearly convinced to move to the Bundesliga because of Guardiola’s influence.
“I almost went to Bayern because of Pep Guardiola. After I won the Puskás Award, my dad kept calling me at 2 AM. When I finally answered, he told me to open the door. I was in my boxers,” Neymar recalled.
To his surprise, his father was standing there with Guardiola and a translator. The legendary coach wasted no time and got straight to the point.
“Pep told me, ‘I want to sign you and take you with me wherever I go. I will make you the best player in the world,’” Neymar said.
Guardiola even brought a laptop, showing Neymar exactly where he would fit into his plans. Then he added a humorous challenge: “If you don’t score 60 goals in a season, I’ll change my name.”
At that moment, Neymar was intrigued but still uncertain. When he asked which club Guardiola was talking about, Pep couldn’t reveal it yet.
“I convinced him to tell me, and he finally said, ‘I’m signing with Bayern. I know it’s a cold city, but I’ll take care of you.’”
In the end, Neymar chose Barcelona instead, a decision that shaped his career. Since then, he has played for PSG and now Al-Hilal.
Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey has opened up about a difficult period in his career, revealing that he almost stepped away from football.
Speaking during a recent interview, Bassey shared that he once made a personal promise to himself to quit pursuing football professionally if he failed to secure a spot at a professional club.
“I remember being 15 and going into my final year, and I told myself that if I didn’t get into a professional club, I would quit football. It was that simple,” he said.
“I would just stop pursuing it seriously and only play for fun. Thank God I eventually got a club, because I honestly don’t know where I would be otherwise.”
It has been reported that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) fined Egypt $5,000 following their clash with Zimbabwe for failing to manage post-match media obligations.
It was noted that after the match, the Egyptian players ignored the media. This action was said to be a violation of CAF’s media regulations, which led to the fine being imposed.
Head of the Super Eagles, Eric Chelle, shared that the big-name players on the team are not happy about being benched.
He recalled when he took out Samuel Chukwueze during the match against Tanzania.
“Yes, of course, we’ve in this team a lot of big names. They are competitors; they aren’t happy when they go to the bench,” Chelle said at his post-match interview.”
“My job is to make choices, and we’re playing a 4-4-2 diamond, and at this moment I feel we have to protect the wing.”
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