The club that turned down the chance to sign Neymar... for just €10million!

His performances in the French capital have made the €222million Paris Saint-Germain seem like a bargain and he is widely regarded as the future Ballon d'Or winner, once Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo step down.

Neymar's career in Europe began in 2013 with an €88million switch from Santos in his native Brazil to Barcelona, who were eventually left with no option but to sell the 26-year-old last summer when PSG came knocking.

But it could have been a markedly different career path for Neymar. In 2008, after seeing the Brazilian forward star for Santos during the Mediterranean Cup youth tournament, Lokomotiv Moscow mulled over a €10m approach. The Russian giants finally deemed the required transfer package too costly and a risk not worth taking on the precocious teenager.

"We thought about whether or not it was worth buying Neymar,” former Lokomotiv president Nikolai Naumov told 'Sport-Express' "We wanted to buy him. Our scouts watched the Brazilian. There were quite big doubts. First, he was too young. Second, it was unclear how he'd adapt to Russia... so we decided against getting him. It would have been around €10m, probably. You understand, paying so much for a youngster from another continent... you have to be careful with this sort of thing."

Instead, Lokomotiv decided to place their trust in Alan Gatagov, who plied his trade in Estonia for Levadia Tallinn before being released. He has been without a club for almost a year. "Yes, we did lose in the final, but I didn't notice that Neymar played any better than the others. Alan Gatagov looked just as good."

Neymar made his full debut for Santos in 2009 and other European clubs began to take notice before the Camp Nou outfit won the race for his signature. Today, he is the most expensive footballer of all time, but he was once worth just €10million.