The former Barcelona boss was keen to lure the Brazil international to Bavaria until the Champions League winners moved for Mario Gotze instead
Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has revealed that Pep Guardiola asked the club to sign Neymar prior to the Bundesliga champions’ move to sign Mario Gotze from Borussia Dortmund.
The former Barcelona coach was keen to recruit the 21-year-old Brazilian, who is now poised to complete a €28 million move to Camp Nou, but the newly-crowned European champions felt Gotze was a safer option given their previous record with signing Selecao starlets.
“Guardiola had certain ideas to bring in a young Brazilian player [Neymar],” Hoeness said while speaking at an IDG Communications Media AG gathering.
“But we have had a number of bad experiences with young Brazilians in the past. If you consider signing someone who costs €20-30 million or even more, it is a difficult decision. We all know what happened with Breno…
“So we started looking for a similar player and eventually signed Mario Gotze.”
The 20-year-old Gotze will leave Dortmund for Bayern for €37m this summer after agreeing the terms for a transfer earlier in May.