Still the most expensive deal in the game's history, the Brazilian's switch to the French capital did not go to plan for anyone involved
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On July 23, 2017, Gerard Pique tweeted a photo of himself alongside then-Barcelona team-mate Neymar. The Spaniard accompanied the tweet with just two words: "Se queda", translated to "he stays". Less than two weeks later, however, Neymar was announced as a Paris Saint-Germain player. The €222 million (£200m/$242m) fee that PSG paid to snare their man from Catalunya hasn't been surpassed since.
Financial Fair Play? What Financial Fair Play? For PSG and their Qatari owners, the opportunity to sign one of football's most marketable players was one that they couldn't turn down.
But it's not just the price that makes Neymar's move one of the craziest in football history. This is a story of secret discussions, lucrative commercial opportunities, ambition, and ultimately, one man's desire to step out of the shadows and become the centre of the football universe.
GettyThe move
Zlatan Ibrahimovic's switch to Manchester United in 2016 left PSG with something of a hole to fill. Paris is a city of grandeur, but without the swashbuckling Swede, who was going to draw the crowds to Parc des Princes? Cue the arrival of a Brazilian who had developed into a world-class performer in Spain but could be tempted by the spotlight and heaps of money. Neymar became the target and PSG thought they had convinced him to join that year, but for a late change of mind.
Frustrated, PSG tried to forget about him. But they couldn't. Neymar made sure of that when the sides met in the Champions League last 16 in early 2017. The night that would become known as 'La Remontada'' (The Comeback') and remains Neymar's magnum opus to this day. Two goals and a late assist to seal a dramatic 6-5 aggregate victory from 4-0 down… salt in the wounds for PSG, for sure.
That summer, the French club drew up a list of transfer targets and Neymar wasn't on it. Instead, they shortlisted Kylian Mbappe, Alexis Sanchez, Philippe Coutinho or Sergio Aguero. That was until PSG chairman Nasser al-Khelaifi received a call from Neymar's team. After four seasons, the Brazilian was ready to leave Barcelona.
AdvertisementGettyThe fee
PSG knew that Neymar wouldn't come cheap. His release clause had been upped to €222m in November 2016, and his camp would only demand wages that reflected his status as his new club's most valuable player. Indeed, multiple meetings were required before PSG chiefs gave the green light to pursue the forward, with the commercial impact of his arrival being a persuasive factor in the decision.
Manchester United had just set a new world-record transfer fee when they paid €105m for Paul Pogba, so for that figure to be doubled just one year later reflects the seismic scale of Neymar's move, and it was another reminder that football operates in a completely different stratosphere. Yet it was the result of multiple elements combining at the perfect time; the ultra-rich PSG, desperately craving a new superstar, and Neymar, the uber-talented footballer approaching the peak of his powers, desperately craving centre stage.
The two parties thought they were an ideal match for one another and, after PSG offered him a €36.8m yearly salary, an agreement was quickly reached to complete the biggest transfer in football history.
GettyThe motive
The emergence of the Saudi Pro League, and the Chinese Super League before it, has given rise to a number of transfers that are entirely fuelled not by the pursuit of bigger trophies, but by a desire to fill one's pockets. But it's not right to suggest that was the case for Neymar. Sure, the money played a part, as the Brazilian more than doubled his wages when he moved to France, while the commercial opportunities that came with being in Paris, and the face of its football team, were unprecedented.
But PSG offered more than just stacks of cash. This was a club that didn't know how to win the Champions League, the trophy that their Qatari owners yearned for. Neymar had done so with Barcelona in 2015, and had won everything else there is to win in Spain. The task of propelling PSG to their maiden European triumph represented a new challenge that he was excited for.
There were individual motivations as well. Neymar had been widely tipped to become the player to break Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's stranglehold on the Ballon d'Or, but he needed to be Messi's adversary, not his team-mate, to do so. Supporting Messi's yearly campaign jeopardised his own chances of winning the Golden Ball; only by leaving Camp Nou, and in turn, Messi's shadow, could Neymar become a Ballon d'Or winner.
Javier Pastore relinquished the No.10 shirt at PSG, paving the way for Neymar to take centre stage. There were several esteemed players alongside him in the dressing room, including Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani and good friend and compatriot Dani Alves, but only one player had superstar status. Or so he thought.
GettyThe fallout
Neymar's move was confirmed on August 3, 2017, and Pique was mocked (his tweet stands at nearly 180,000 retweets). Messi said farewell with a video that has been viewed more than 16 million times on Instagram. And roughly 45,000 PSG fans flocked to Parc des Princes for Neymar's unveiling.
This was not a straightforward parting of ways, though. A dispute would quickly emerge over the finances involved in Neymar's move; PSG were eventually cleared of breaking FFP rules after a UEFA investigation, which came after the club agreed a €180m deal with Monaco for Kylian Mbappe just weeks after signing Neymar.
While UEFA were investigating PSG's finances, a nastier battle over money was ensuing between Neymar and his old team. Shortly after leaving, Neymar filed a lawsuit against Barcelona claiming he was owed a €43.6m renewal bonus that was agreed when he signed a contract extension with the Blaugrana in 2016. The Brazil international had received around €14m of the bonus by the time he left, and he wanted the remaining amount. Barcelona responded by suing Neymar for breach of contract and wanted the €14m back, as well as €8.5m in damages, plus interest. A judge sided with Barca and Neymar was ordered to return €6.7m to his former employers.
For Barcelona fans, Neymar's exit was tough to stomach. Less than 10 months after his departure, he had committed the next five years of his future to the club. "I decided to stay at Barca because I feel at home here," he said about his contract extension. "I'm happy with my team-mates and I'm a Barca man."
His departure, then, felt like a betrayal to a wave of supporters who set about burning their Neymar jerseys and chanting 'Neymar muerete' – 'Neymar die' in English – during a pre-season friendly against Chapecoense.