Real Madrid Transfer News: Los Blancos Land Neymar Thanks to Crafty Planning

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If you plan ahead, it will pay off.

For Real Madrid, they cashed out in a big way, when Santos agreed to sell Brazilian starlet Neymar to the Spanish side.

Barcelona made a strong push to sign him when talks stalled, but the Catalan giants were unable to sign the hitman despite the fact that they threw more than a king's ransom at Santos.

Per Tribal Football:

After their Copa America elimination, the Brazil players held a farewell dinner function where Neymar confessed to teammates his next move.

"I'm going to play for Real Madrid. I want to succeed there," AS says Neymar told his teammates.

Santos are still to make a decision on whether to sell Neymar to Real now or wait until January after the ClubWorld Cup.

Despite Barcelona's €50 million proposal, Neymar is a done deal for Real thanks to a pre-transfer agreement. Should Santos sell to another club, Real will be due millions in compensation.

That clause made a world of difference in these negotiations.

Santos isn't the type of club that can afford to give up millions of dollars because they sold Neymar to someone else other than Real Madrid.

It was savvy business for Los Blancos, who saw this day coming, and acted accordingly.

Furthermore, it was a forward-thinking move, something that most people haven't associated with the club in recent years.

This move is one that marks a new era at the Bernabeu, in which the club has focused on the future, putting the flashy, big-name signings in the past.

Thanks to that strategy, Neymar will be heading to Spain, where Jose Mourinho will mold him into one of the world's top players.

Real Madrid just landed one of the best players in the summer transfer window, all because they had the foresight to put Santos in a position where they had to sell him to the club or risk losing millions of dollars.

It was brilliant strategy, and something that shouldn't go unnoticed in the wake of this move.

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