Neymar’s legal team has paid nearly $270 million to cancel his contract with Barcelona. That’s according to a statement from Barca that was released on August 3. The press release read:
On Thursday afternoon Neymar Jr’s legal representatives visited in person the Club’s offices and made the payment of 222 million euros 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.
So at the time of writing, Neymar is a free-agent and has not signed a contract with anybody.
It had earlier emerged that La Liga had rejected PSG’s bid for Neymar, of around $270 million, to buy out his contract. The league refused the bid due to Financial Fair Play regulations. La Liga president Javier Tebas said of the deal, according to Spanish tabloid AS, “La Liga is positing that state-backed clubs that compete using ‘financial doping’ could destabilize professional football in Europe.”
However, as pointed out here by Bleacher Report, it is none of La Liga’s concern if PSG wants to violate FFP. Not to mention the fact that PSG has 11 months to balance their books.
Punishments for violations of FFP range from fines to a team being banned from the lucrative world of the UEFA Champions League. It’s unlikely that PSG’s Qatari owners are going to risk signing Neymar at the expense of their Champions League place.
While Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger took aim at PSG’s owners over the deal saying, “Once a country owns a club everything is possible and it becomes difficult to respect Financial Fair Play.” Though Wenger’s compatriot, French Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin, told France 24 that he was “delighted” that Neymar would now be paying his taxes in Paris.