La Liga 2016/17: Neymar's father insists that the Brazilian would cost €430m
The Brazilian superstar Neymar in the summer before the start of the new season was in the process of being prized away from Barcelona to Paris with PSG offering to throw out a massive transfer sum to lure the attacking player to France. However, Neymar recently signed a new contract with the Catalan giants keeping him at the club until 2021.
Since the Brazilian had signed the new deal, his father speaking to Globo Esporte claims PSG would have had to pay €430m for the player.
Also read: La Liga 2016/17: Valencia fan who threw a bottle at Barcelona players says Neymar provoked supporters
The player’s agent Wagner Ribiero claims the switch would have been completed had PSG included a hotel chain in the player’s name, a €40m debt payoff coupled with a salary of €40m a year along with a private jet to fly the player around the world for Brazil’s matches.
"With regard to the subject of PSG, there is a contradiction, due, apparently, to a lack of understanding," Neymar’s father told Globo Esporte.
"The athlete is subject to pay the termination fine for breach of contract with any club. The club would support this payment in the region of €190m and would also have to compute the tax - in Spain, at the time, it was somewhere around 56 percent.”
"I believe that €430m was not an obscene value. The player was unattainable and priceless, in that Barcelona do not want to sell,” he went on to add.
"In fact, even if the value was obscene, it is not my problem. It was the contracted amount,” he continued.
According to the player’s father, Barcelona were unwilling to start talks with the club as they were desperate to pen Neymar to a new contract at the club. Having penned a new 5-year deal with the club, Neymar has all but ended rumours regarding a move to Paris and signaled his intention to stay at the Blaugrana until 2021.
Also read: La Liga 2016/17: Why Neymar didn't join Paris Saint-Germain this summer
Barcelona have endured a turbulent start to the season, with three defeats and a couple of draws combined with an injury-filled couple of months. After the mauling of former boss Pep Guardiola and Manchester City in the Champions League, Barcelona snatched a late win at the Mestalla at the weekend against a rejuvenated Valencia team under Cesare Prandelli.
The Catalan giants will be without Andres Iniesta for 6-8 weeks following his early substitution at the Mestalla as they welcome Granada to the Nou Camp in a league encounter on Sunday, with The Blaugrana desperate to get a run of victories on the bounce.
(Video courtesy: Teo CRi YouTube channel)