'After I won the Puskas Award, my dad kept calling me at 2am. I answered, he told me to open the door - I was in my boxers. It was my dad, Guardiola and the translator! Pep told me, "I want to sign you"': Neymar reveals how he almost rejected Barcelona

Josep Pep Guardiola , Trainer FC Bayern München mit Neymar FC Barcelona Fußball Uefa Championsleague Halbfinale Rückspiel : FC Bayern München - FC Barcelona (Photo by sampics/Corbis via Getty Images).

Neymar has revealed that Pep Guardiola paid him a personal visit in Brazil in an attempt to sign him, despite not managing a club at the time.

Neymar won the 2011 Puskas Award for a spectacular goal he scored for Santos against Flamengo in Brazil, where he picked the ball up on the halfway line and dribbled through the opposition before slotting past the goalkeeper. Still only 19 at that time, he was attracting plenty of attention from Europe - most notably from Barcelona and Real Madrid.