Jose Mourinho reportedly tried to steal Neymar for Chelsea from under the nose of Barcelona in 2013 when he was heading back to Stamford Bridge for a second spell with the club.
Real Madrid and Barcelona were famously battling for Neymar's signature when the rising Brazilian superstar was still at Santos. And despite an agreement in place with Barça, rumoured to have been made as early as 2011, Real were still allegedly desperately trying to strike a deal of their own.
However, according to Spanish publication Sport, Mourinho, who was privy to the information regarding Los Blancos'attemptedapproach for Neymar, tried to hi-jack it for himself at Chelsea.
It is said that with Mourinho's relationship with Real president Florentino Perez severely strained and his departure from the club already known, the Portuguese coach had little problem using what he knew toconvince Neymar that his future should be at Chelsea instead.
It is said that through agent Jorge Mendes, Mourinho sourced Neymar's phone number and personally called the player without the use of intermediaries or other agents.
Neymar was apparently 'stunned' and Mourinho told the then 21-year-old that he wanted him to come with him to Chelsea, with billionaire owner Roman Abramovich supposedlyprepared to meet the financial costs of signing the Santos star -such a deal would have been a British record at the time.
It seems that Neymar himself may even have initially been open to the idea, telling Mourinho to speak with his father who handles the player's business affairs.
However, unfortunately for Chelsea fans, the ultimate decision was to go ahead with the original plan to join Barça - there was an unwillingness from the Neymars to start negotiating a new deal when the move to Camp Nou was already so close.
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