Dani Carvajal Says He 'Was in Doubt' About Neymar Move to Real Madrid

Dani Carvajal has said he "was in doubt" that Neymar would sign for Real Madrid during the summer, but he added Paul Pogba's potential move to the Santiago Bernabeu "sounded good." 

The Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United stars were heavily linked with Real, but both are still at their respective clubs following the closure of La Liga's transfer window on Monday.

Per El Partidazo de COPE (h/t Dejan Kalinic of Goal), right-back Carvajal, who has been at Real since 2013, would have welcomed either player in Madrid, but he was particularly sceptical about reports surrounding Neymar, who was also linked with former club Barcelona:

"You saw that one day he went to Barca, another day he came with us, another day he stayed. We asked the Brazilians, and they told us that he didn't know. I was in doubt. He is a top-five or top-three player. Such a player is welcome on any team.

"Pogba sounded good too. The transfer dates close differently everywhere and in the end he has not arrived. We are who we are, and we cannot think of someone who is not with us."

United midfielder Pogba, 26, hinted at a move to Real back in June when he said "it could be a good time to have a new challenge somewhere else." 

When the Premier League's transfer window closed on August 8, though, without United signing a replacement for the Frenchman, any chance of Real snapping up Pogba looked over:

It has long been clear, meanwhile, that Neymar wants out of PSG, but as the end of La Liga's transfer window drew closer, Barca became the only realistic destination for the Brazil international.

In the end, no move materialised for Neymar, but the Blaugrana are reportedly confident of finally re-signing their former star in 2020, per Joaquim Piera of Sport.

Despite not signing Pogba or Neymar, Real still had a very busy summer in the transfer window, spending over €300 million (£272 million) on the likes of Eden Hazard, Rodrygo, Luka Jovic and Eder Militao.

Los Blancos have endured a mixed start to the new La Liga campaign and sit fifth in the table after a win against Celta Vigo and draws with Real Valladolid and Villarreal. 

Manager Zinedine Zidane has yet to have the chance to start his best team in 2019-20 as a number of key players are sidelined through injury, most notably Hazard:

But, even without adding Neymar or Pogba to the squad, Real should still have enough talent to challenge for La Liga this season, something they failed to do last term.