Real Madrid Deny Rumour Club Made World-Record Transfer Bid for Neymar

Real Madrid have denied making a bid worth a world-record £275 million for Brazil and Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar. In a statement released on the club's official website, Real issued this rebuttal of recent reports:

"In light of information broadcast tonight by TVE regarding an alleged Real Madrid offer to PSG and their player Neymar, Real Madrid C. F. wishes to state that this information is absolutely untrue. Real Madrid has made no offer of any kind to PSG or the player.
 
"Real Madrid are surprised that the Spanish public television network would choose to broadcast entirely false information without anyone from the outlet having first contacted any of the parties concerned to corroborate the supposed information, which would have been quite easily discredited."

The Daily Mirror's Jack Rathborn reported how Spanish station TVE had earlier reported a possible bid.

Neymar moved to the French capital last summer for a global-record €222 million. Since then, rumours linking the former Barcelona star with a return to the Spanish top flight, specifically to Real, have been frequent.

Questions were quickly raised about the latest reported offer:

It would be in keeping with the history of Real president Florentino Perez to covet Neymar's signature. He's never been shy about breaking the bank for so-called "galacticos," and back in June, he was said to be prepared to pay as much as £307 million to sign Neymar this summer, according to Tom Roddy of The Sun.

Meanwhile, comparisons were drawn between this situation and the dismissal of Spain coach Julen Lopetegui after he had been negotiating a move to Real 48 hours prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia:

Brazil reached the last eight by beating Mexico 2-0 on Monday, with Neymar scoring one goal and helping to create the other. It was a performance showcasing the star power of a prolific 26-year-old who can turn any game in an instant with a moment of brilliance.

Those are the kind of attributes Perez has stockpiled during his stewardship of Real. With regular attacking talisman Cristiano Ronaldo 33, while Gareth Bale remains injury prone, don't expect rumours of Neymar moving to the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium to go away anytime soon, despite Real's strongly worded denials.