Real Madrid Transfer News: Florentino Perez 'Obsessed' with Signing Neymar

Real Madrid club president Florentino Perez is reportedly “obsessed” with bringing Barcelona hot-shot Neymar to the Bernabeu.

That’s according to AS journalist Javier Matallanas, who says that Perez will make a serious move to try to lure the Brazilian to the Spanish capital—via Sport.

Neymar has been in irresistible form in 2015/16, scoring 14 La Liga goals and creating five more in just 12 appearances, per WhoScored.com.

One of those goals and one of the assists came in the season’s first El Clasico, where the 23-year-old simply tore Rafa Benitez’s men to shreds.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

So it’s easy to see why Perez is after the mercurial forward, but Sport report that the president has been after Neymar’s signature for some time now.

Perez tried to land him from Santos back in 2013 and even believed that the deal was done before Barca swooped in and secured his services.

Now, the Brazilian is almost like the one that got away.

He’s developing at quite an alarming rate, and after Neymar promised the world back when he was at Santos, he’s now delivering the goods.

Here’s a reminder of why Perez is so keen on the Barca man:

Yet even if Perez throws everything he’s got at Barcelona—which he appears willing to do—the Catalan club are unlikely to let one of their star men leave.

It would take an awful lot to tempt Neymar himself away from the Camp Nou, too, as he recently said that he intends to sign a new contract with the La Liga leaders, per Sky Sports:

“I still have some years left on my contract and my father has already spoken about my future. I’m still under contract, and of course, I intend to sign a new one. I want to help my team-mates and keep scoring and creating goals."

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Even so, Perez won’t be deterred, and Sport’s report states that the Real Madrid president will try to interfere with Neymar’s contract negotiations and better any offer that Barcelona put on the table.

Signing Neymar is a bit of pie in the sky, though. Perez, instead, should be focusing on his current crop of stars and getting the best out of them—recruiting the best manager, for example.

The personnel are undoubtedly present. Let’s not forget, this is largely the same group of players who lead the club to its historic La Decima triumph and put together a record-breaking win streak. 

Neymar may be one of the hottest properties in world football right now, but the sooner Perez’s “obsession” with him goes, the better it’ll be for Real’s current Galacticos.