adminPARIS. – Paris St-Germain lodged the £198 million buy-out clause for Barcelona’s Neymar yesterday, paving the way for his world-record transfer to Ligue 1, after the stand-off between the two clubs threatened to turn into a major dispute between the Spanish and French leagues. Barcelona announced that, as per Spanish league rules, Neymar’s lawyers had deposited his £198 million (€222 million) buy-out clause at the club which triggered the “unilateral termination” of his contract in Spain.
This was not before the Brazilian’s lawyers had been sent packing by the Spanish Liga office in Madrid where they had originally tried to make the payment – a convention in transfers involving Spanish clubs, where buy-out clauses are universal.
A statement from Barcelona confirmed that Neymar’s buy-out fee had been paid and he was no longer contracted to the club. Barcelona said: “On Thursday afternoon Neymar Jr’s legal representatives visited in person the club’s offices and made the payment of €222 million in the player’s name with regards to the unilateral termination of the contract that united both parties.
“As such, the club will pass on to Uefa the details of the above operation so that they can determine the disciplinary responsibilities that may arise from this case.”
Barcelona remain sceptical that Qatari-owned PSG can pass the Uefa Financial Fair Play regulations which will determine whether they can play in the Champions League in the 2018-2019 season – the earliest the Neymar deal can be taken into account by the governing body.
The animosity between the two sides in recent days is just a taste of the likely reaction to next year’s Uefa FFP verdict on PSG’s accounts.
In the morning, Neymar’s lawyer, Juan de Dios Crespo, in bowtie and fedora, had been sent away from the Madrid Liga offices after officials, who have accused PSG of “financial doping”, said that they would not accept it.
In a statement, La Liga said: “We can confirm that the lawyers of the player have come to La Liga to deposit the clause and that it has been rejected.”
Undeterred, Crespo headed for Barcelona and the club’s offices where he was finally able to make the payment, supported by the French league who issued a statement unreservedly backing PSG’s position.
The French league said: “The LFP is surprised and does not understand the refusal of La Liga to simply accept the payment of the release clause of the player Neymar. The LFP asks the Liga to abide by the Fifa rules and its responsibilities. The LFP supports Paris St-Germain and wishes Neymar to join the Ligue 1 championship.
“The legal services of the LFP are in support and at the disposal of Paris St-Germain so that the Neymar contract is approved as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Neymar was aboard a plane bound for Portugal where he will meet PSG’s Portuguese sporting director, Antero Henrique, and undergo his medical examination.
Neymar wants to play in the first PSG league game of the season against Amiens at the Parc des Princes on Saturday and there is also a potential grand introduction to the Parisian public before then, potentially today.
In response, it is understood that Barcelona have made enquiries about Kylian Mbappe, the 18-year-old star of current French champions Monaco.
He has been a target for Real Madrid all summer and now, with the injection of money into the market by PSG, it seems inevitable that significant bids will also be made for the France international.
Barcelona have been told by Liverpool that the club will not sell their Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho, although whether that deters them from making another bid remains to be seen.
Another France international, Ousmane Dembele, at Borussia Dortmund, is also a potential target.
Speaking yesterday, Arsene Wenger was predictably dismissive of Neymar’s prospective signing and its likely effect on the finances of elite European football.
The Arsenal manager said the fee was “beyond calculation and beyond rationality”. Wenger said: “Once a country owns a club, everything is possible. It becomes very difficult to respect the financial fair play because you can have different ways or different interests for a country to have such a big player to represent [that] country. It can’t justify the investments and looks unusual for the game. That’s why I always [support] football living with its own resources.”
Wenger also predicted that Barcelona would face vastly-inflated prices for the players they sought to buy to replace Neymar. He said: “You don’t look at the numbers in their absolute value anymore.
Football has been for a long time out of normal society and the numbers are like the NBA in basketball, so it’s not comparable to normal life anymore.
Those are the numbers. It was already out of context of society, so after it just becomes a bit extra. You cannot calculate what it brings in anymore, it’s just a number.” – Daily Telegraph.
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