Wagner Ribeiro, the agent of Brazilian superstar Neymar has spoken out about how his client was “close” to join either Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) or Manchester United this summer, before finally penning down a new contract at Camp Nou.
“He was very close to PSG. He would have earned €40m a year net” - said Ribeiro. "Neymar was also close to a spell at Manchester United, but he extended his contract to earn less at Barcelona because he wanted to stay at Barcelona” he added.
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Following Zlatan Ibrahimovic's departure to Manchester United, PSG wanted to replace Ibrahimovic with the 23-year-old Brazilian footballer. They were reportedly ready to spend €190m in order to sign the Barcelona forward. Reportedly Neymar would have been offered £650,000 a week or €40m (£33.8m) post tax.
The 23-year-old player’s father had admitted back in June that the footballer was unsettled by the speculations linking him to different clubs.
“People have said 10,000 different things about my son. Neymar has a contract at Barcelona and he has two years left”, Neymar’s father said regarding the transfer speculation. “Neymar’s owners are Barcelona. Any proposals, any notifications or any formality that comes in respect to Neymar, without question passes through Barcelona and Barcelona alone”, he further added.
Neymar's newly extended contract keeps him at Barcelona until 2021. In a matter of 3 years, starting from 2017, the buyout clause is expected to rise to the region of €250m.
The Brazilian scored 27 goals and assisted another 16 in the 2015-16 season playing for Barcelona.
According to Ribeiro, the Brazilian was a little tempted by the offer made by the French champions but he decided to stay in Barcelona because it is his “dream club”.
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Following this statement by Wagner Ribeiro, an anonymous PSG source spoke to L’Equipe and said that there’s no truth to the claims made by Neymar’s agent.
“It’s totally false. With employer contributions on top, that salary would have cost more than €60m a year. It's obscene. Neymar used us to strengthen his hand with Barcelona”, the source further added.
However, reports say that PSG’s deputy sporting director Oliver Letang had met with the Brazilian’s friends and family in the end of June.
Neymar is now back from the international break and into training for weekend clash against newly promoted side Alavés.
