West Ham fans of a certain vintage will remember a baby-faced Neymar was set to join the club at the very start of his career in 2010.
Then an emerging talent at Santos, West Ham were genuinely interested in signing an 18-year-old Neymar.
David Sullivan and David Gold had taken over West Ham in the January before the exciting summer move.
West Ham were on the map in South America at the time having sensationally signed Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano from Corinthians four years earlier.
The talk at the time was that Neymar could be “parked” at West Ham before joining Roman Abromovich’s Chelsea if he proved a success.
A £20-25m fee was mooted at the time.
But Neymar’s father rejected West Ham’s overtures.
West Ham failed to land Neymar, appointed Avram Grant as manager and went on to be relegated that season.
Neymar could secure £25m West Ham deal 15 years after nearly joining
Meanwhile Neymar was picked up by Barca three years later and went on to make his name as one of the best players in world football with them and Brazil.
Now, as a 32-year-old, the ex Barca and PSG attacker could make things right for the Hammers as he goes full circle.
Because Neymar could secure a £25m West Ham deal 15 years after nearly joining for same fee.
Last week The Times’ Gary Jacob revealed West Ham want to cut their losses on Brazilian winger Luis Guilherme just seven months after signing him from Palmeiras in a deal worth up to £25m.
It was claimed the Hammers are speaking to a club in Saudi over a deal to recoup their money and raise funds for other targets.
As exclusively revealed by Hammers News earlier this season, Steidten elected to spread his striker budget to sign Niclas Fullkrug and Guilherme.
Hammers trying to offload Guilherme
Sullivan and co showed their intuition was right with their plans to try and sign Neymar in 2010.
But West Ham’s hierarchy were said to be unsure about bringing the untested 18-year-old Guilherme over from Brazil for such a big fee.
Many would argue their intuition has proved correct again as the young winger has barely kicked a ball for the Hammers.
Steidten insisted on signing Guilherme, though, and he was told in no uncertain terms that his job would be riding on his success.
West Ham have been in talks to offload the young attacker – which many feel spells the end for Steidten in east London.
So far a deal has not been struck but the Hammers are believed to have offered Guilherme to Al Hilal.
That’s the club his compatriot Neymar plays for.
But not for much longer.
Because Neymar looks set for a sensational return to his boyhood club 15 years on from West Ham’s near miss.
And it could directly help West Ham offload Guilherme to Al Hilal as Neymar’s replacement.
It has been confirmed that Neymar will not be registered for the second half of the Saudi Pro League season by Al Hilal and Santos have offered him a way out, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The transfer reporter has revealed Neymar is now close to returning to Santos as the Brazilian club has now submitted formal loan proposal.
They are just waiting on the green light from Al Hilal.
And it seems that green light may come soon as the Saudi club has officially contacted West Ham to ‘explore the conditions of a deal’ for Guilherme.
That’s according to Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth, who has strong contacts inside West Ham.
Saudi clubs are not short of money.
So finding the funds to meet West Ham’s asking price won’t be an issue.
Especially if they do offload Neymar’s mammoth wages imminently.
It should also be noted that the Saudi Pro League are looking to change their recruitment approach to bring in talented young stars who can make their name there rather than big names at the end of their careers.
Related Topics
