Neymar's former agent, Wagner Ribeiro, has told the Barcelona star to make a shock move to Real Madrid in order to solve his problems with the tax authorities. The Brazil international's future at the Nou Camp has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after he admitted that talks were held between his representatives and Manchester United over the summer.
But Ribeiro, who was one of the agents behind Neymar's move to Barca from Santos, has written an open letter on his Instagram account to the Brazilian and his father, saying they should make the move to the Santiago Bernabeu. The agent believes Neymar has been treated poorly by the Brazilian authorities, who have frozen €42m (£31.1m) of his assets after being accused of tax evasion – with his move to Barcelona still under investigation.
"Take your money, bring it all to a tax haven, legally of course. That way you won't have to pay taxes in Brazil. Close your companies, the Instituto de Praia Grande and enjoy life on the many Mediterranean beaches. You and your family. But give Neymar a few more years of football, let him finish his career in Europe, preferably at Real Madrid," wrote Ribiero.
The agent believes that Neymar would not have been targeted by the authorities if he had moved to Real Madrid, a club he had a trial at while still a youngster.
"[Neymar's father] did not want to pay for the services of two journalists who offered themselves as advisors to his son in 2009. If they had acted differently, he wouldn't have fought with the agents and would have stayed in Madrid, where Neymar would have become a naturalised Spanish citizen," he said.
"In Brazil if you get rich you suddenly become an idiot. Like the saying goes, 'you can leave the favela, but the favela never leaves you'. This is something ingrained in Brazilian society. They want you to stay in the favela."