Neymar News: La Liga president claims the Brazilian superstar will retire at Paris Saint-Germain unless he "lowers his salary"
What's the story?
La Liga president Javier Tebas has stated that Neymar Jr may have to spend the rest of his career at Paris Saint-Germain if he doesn't lower his hefty wage demands.
In case you didn't know...
Neymar was the talk of the summer transfer window as he was tipped to leave PSG, with Barcelona having looked poised to bring the forward back to the Camp Nou.
The Catalan giants, who sold the 27-year-old superstar for a world record fee in 2017, were keen on his return, but struggled to finance the move following the big-money signing of Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid.
In the end, a deal never materialised and Neymar will have to stay at PSG until at least January. The former Santos forward is yet to play a competitive game for the Ligue 1 club this season.
Tebas, who had previously stated that the presence of Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo in La Liga is not as essential to Spanish football as that of Barcelona maestro Lionel Messi, appears to have reiterated the same opinion recently.
The heart of the matter
Tebas believes that Neymar's current salary and PSG's valuation of him remains a stumbling block when it comes to a potential transfer and has advised the Brazilian to find a way to reduce the fees if he wants to leave the French club.
Tebas said at the Soccerex Europe congress in Lisbon via the Daily Mail,
"The problem of not coming back now [to Barcelona] has to do with his own departure to PSG. It was an off-market transfer, it was only possible to happen with 'traps' to increase sponsorships.
"When you do it out of the market, it is impossible to sell again at this price. In view of the market, Neymar will retire at PSG unless he lowers his salary and also his PSG claims."
What's next?
Neymar, whose contract at PSG runs out in 2022, has been called up for the Brazil squad for friendlies against Colombia and Peru in the ongoing international break.