Zinedine Zidane turned down chance to sign Neymar because he 'couldn't play alongside' Real Madrid star

Zinedine Zidane didn't like the idea of signing Neymar as he 'couldn't play alongside' one of Real Madrid's key players at the time.

Neymar was linked with a move to the Bernabeu on numerous occasions in 2018, just a year after joining Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record deal worth £200 million.

Ahead of their clash against Celta Vigo on May 17, rumours surrounding his future were rife; so much so that Zidane was asked whether he would "disrupt the dressing room" and "could co-exist with Ronaldo".

But the Frenchman played down talk of a switch, saying: "I didn't ask for Neymar because we are not thinking about that."

Two weeks later, Zidane stepped down from his role in Madrid, just five days after winning a third consecutive Champions League.

Zidane's decision to leave raised more questions than answers.

According to Marca, one of the motives was the fact that transfer plans were being made without his approval – and one of the players mentioned was Neymar.

It was a move Zidane didn't approve of, according to Brazilian journalist Andre Rizek, because he believed that the PSG forward and Marcelo could not play together.

“I got news today from a friend of Zidane who had dinner with him in Madrid a few days before he left the club,” Rizek said on Brazil's Sport TV.

“During their encounter, Zidane gave him his opinion on the possible arrival of Neymar. That friend of Zidane told me that the Frenchman didn’t like the idea because he understood that Marcelo and Neymar couldn’t play together, except against smaller teams."

He added: "Zidane understood that they occupy the same part of the field and didn’t approve of signing Neymar.”

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More than a month after Zidane's departure, it was reported that Real Madrid wanted Neymar to replace Cristiano Ronaldo, who was sold to Juventus for £88.3 million.

Spanish broadcaster TVE claimed Los Blancos had offered £275 million for the Brazilian forward, as well as a seven-year deal worth £40 million per season.

But days later, Real Madrid denied the rumours in a strongly-worded statement.

“After the information broadcast tonight by TVE about a supposed offer from Real Madrid to PSG and to the player Neymar, Real Madrid CF states that said information is absolutely false,” they said.

“Real Madrid has not made any type of offer to PSG nor the player.

“To Real Madrid it is surprising that the Spanish public broadcaster has been able to broadcast absolutely false information without anybody at the channel having made contact with anyone to confirm the supposed information that is easily proven false.”