SHARE
COPY LINK

FOOTBALL

Bye bye Barça: Neymar tells teammates ‘he is leaving’

Neymar's potential world record move to Paris Saint-Germain moved a step closer on Wednesday as the Brazilian informed his Barcelona teammates he is leaving the club, a Barca spokesperson told AFP.

Bye bye Barça: Neymar tells teammates 'he is leaving'
Speculation is rife that Neymar is moving to PSG. Photo: AFP

“The player came to train as scheduled and announced to his teammates that he is leaving,” said the source.

“The coach has given him permission to not train and to manage resolving his future.”

Speculation over the 25-year-old's future has dominated the first few weeks of new Barça boss Ernesto Valverde's reign with PSG reportedly willing to pay Neymar's €222 million ($260 million) buyout clause. 

Such a fee would smash the current record £89.3 million ($111 million, €105.2 million) Manchester United paid for Paul Pogba last year.

Neymar arrived back in Barcelona on Tuesday from a fleeting promotional tour to China after playing in all three of Barça's glamour pre-season fixtures in the United States against Juventus, Manchester United and Real Madrid.

He arrived for training at 9am local time (0700GMT), but left left less than an hour later.

Presuming both clubs don't come to a late agreement, the buyout clause would have to be paid to Barcelona via Spain's La Liga to free the player from the contract he signed last year and runs until 2021.

However, La Liga president Javier Tebas has threatened not to accept PSG's money over what he perceives as a failure on the French side's part to comply with UEFA's financial fair play rules (FFP).

“We will not accept this money from a club like PSG,” Tebas told Madrid sports daily AS on Wednesday.

“Especially when this club is infringing rules and laws.”    

Barcelona have also threatened to report PSG to UEFA over any potential breach of FFP.

Clubs can be sanctioned by UEFA for making a loss of more than €30 million over a three-year period.  

PSG have already been fined and saw their Champions League squad limited by UEFA for breaches of FFP in 2014.

RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

SHOW COMMENTS