Neymar One Step from Real Madrid – A Ballon d’Or Lost

Wagner Ribeiro has seen enough boardrooms, private jets and backroom deals to know when a transfer is truly close. In 2013, he insists, Neymar was not just flirting with Real Madrid. He was almost theirs.

“One step away,” is how the former agent of the Brazilian star now describes it. In his telling, only one signature, from Santos, stopped Neymar swapping the Vila Belmiro for the Santiago Bernabeu instead of Camp Nou. And with that, Ribeiro believes, went a Ballon d’Or.

The deal that never was

Neymar’s move to Barcelona in 2013 shook the market. It was the transfer that confirmed the Santos prodigy as a global headline act and lit the fuse on one of the most devastating attacking trios the game has seen. But in the years before that unveiling, Spain’s two giants were locked in a long, expensive tug-of-war.

Ribeiro, who had followed Neymar from adolescence into his early professional years, says Real Madrid were closer than anyone realised. He describes years of contacts, flights across the Atlantic, meetings, and a slow escalation of offers from both Barcelona and Real Madrid as the forward’s stock soared in Brazil.

Behind the scenes, he pushed hard for white, not blaugrana.

He negotiated directly with Florentino Pérez. Real Madrid’s lawyers, he recalls, were already in São Paulo. Personal terms? Agreed. The project? Sold. The Bernabeu door was open.

“Everything was agreed with Florentino, and Real Madrid’s lawyers were in Sao Paulo. All we were missing was one condition: that Santos give its approval,” Ribeiro recounted in an interview with “GE Globo”.

Madrid, in his view, had “absolute advantage” in the race. The Spanish champions-elect of transfers, beaten at the final hurdle by the club that would soon become Neymar’s home.

Agent’s choice vs player’s call

Ribeiro does not hide where his heart lay at the time. He wanted the Bernabeu. The prestige, the history, the weight of the shirt. For an agent, it was the move that made sense.

“I wanted him to go to Real Madrid, of course I wanted that. Because of everything. But it is not the agent who decides, it is the player.”

The decision, as always at the very top, came down to the man on the pitch. Neymar chose Barcelona. He chose Lionel Messi, the Camp Nou, and a dressing room stacked with names that defined an era: Luis Suárez, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta.

For Ribeiro, that choice created a strange, almost surreal moment when the move finally went through. He was on the same plane to Barcelona, heading for Neymar’s grand unveiling. Yet he felt like an outsider at his own player’s coronation.

“When I travelled on the same plane with Neymar to Barcelona, to attend his unveiling ceremony, they sat me down as if I were an intruder. I did not take part in the celebration, but stayed in one of the corners,” he recalled.

The man who had tried to deliver Neymar to Real Madrid was now watching, from the fringes, as the Brazilian pulled on the Barcelona shirt instead.

No regrets over Barcelona years

Time has dulled any bitterness. Ribeiro is clear: Neymar’s Barcelona spell was a sporting triumph.

“He played a lot alongside Suarez, Messi, Xavi and Iniesta... There were only the great stars there. And he won everything. And there is no regret.”

The list of honours backs him up. Neymar became part of the fabled “MSN” attack, won the Champions League, La Liga titles, and shredded defences across Europe. The chemistry with Messi and Suárez gave Barcelona a cutting edge few teams in history have matched.

Yet Ribeiro keeps circling back to one belief: at Real Madrid, in that shirt, with that political and media machine behind him, Neymar’s individual story might have been different. “If Neymar had played at Real Madrid, he would have won the Ballon d’Or. I have no doubt,” he said.

In his eyes, the white shirt does more than carry weight. It shapes narratives, tilts votes, crowns stars.

From Barcelona exit to Paris record

Ribeiro’s role in Neymar’s career did not end with the Barcelona saga. When the forward’s time at Camp Nou began to edge towards its conclusion, the agent found himself in a very different kind of meeting.

Ibiza. Neymar. His father. Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Paris Saint-Germain on the horizon.

Ribeiro was at the table as PSG made their pitch and placed their money on it. “Nasser was offering him 25 million euros and we asked for 40,” he said. The negotiation, as ever, did not stay quiet for long.

According to Ribeiro, when Neymar’s father allowed it to be leaked that PSG were ready to pay €25 million in Paris, Barcelona reacted. The Catalans improved their own offer, taking Neymar’s salary to €26 million. It was a short-term victory for Barça, but only a delay.

“One year later, Neymar left for 222 million euros and ended up getting 40,” Ribeiro pointed out.

The world-record transfer fee detonated the market and shifted the power balance in Europe. The money was staggering, but Ribeiro insists it was not the only driver.

“Neymar wanted to change the atmosphere and he had a promise that Paris Saint-Germain would build a great team,” he said. A new league, a new project, and the chance to step out from Messi’s shadow as the undisputed star.

The Ballon d’Or that never came

For all the trophies, all the goals, all the shirt sales and headlines, one prize has eluded Neymar: the Ballon d’Or. To Ribeiro, that omission is not about talent. It is about context.

“If Neymar had played at Real Madrid, he would have won the Ballon d’Or. I have no doubt.”

It is a bold claim, but it underlines a long-running debate around Neymar’s career: did his choices maximise his legacy, or merely his moments? Barcelona gave him glory and unforgettable football. Paris offered money, status and a new stage. Real Madrid, in Ribeiro’s mind, would have given him history.

The agent can only deal in the past now. The sliding doors moment of 2013 is gone. What remains is a tantalising question that will follow Neymar to the end of his career: in a white shirt, under the lights of the Bernabeu, would the golden ball have finally been his?