Neymar Jr. stuck with PSG: Can no other club afford him?
Neymar has long been linked to a return to his former club, FC Barcelona.
Despite having been with Paris Saint-Germain since 2017, Neymar Jr. continues to be linked with a possible return to FC Barcelona. However, the deal has never materialised and his former agent, Wagner Ribeiro, thinks that the Brazilian is basically stuck where he is now.
Simply put, Ribeiro thinks that Barcelona can't afford Neymar. In fact, he does not believe that any other club can meet the forward's financial demands. The agent also revealed that PSG was instrumental in driving up Neymar's salary from 11 million euros to 28 million euros in his final year with Barcelona.
The following year, the Catalans could no longer match PSG's advances, and Neymar was left with no choice but to accept the offer from the Parisian club. "He could no longer refuse. PSG paid Barcelona 222 million euros [in 2017] and offered him a net salary of 36 million euros a year. It is impossible to refuse such an offer," Ribeiro said.
Now, he thinks that Neymar is basically stuck with PSG for the same reason—no other club can afford him. Even Real Madrid will be turned down by PSG, which was exactly what happened when Neymar tried to leave some years back. "[Real Madrid] were willing to pay 300 million [euros], but Nasser [Al-Khelaifi] said that not even for one billion [euros] would he leave," Ribeiro said.
Ribeiro had a long history with Neymar, having been with him since he was 12 years old. He was at the centre of the battle between Spanish giants Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, who both went after the young Santos prodigy back in 2012.
In an interview quoted by Marca, Ribeiro revealed that Real Madrid never really stood a chance in their pursuit of the Brazilian. "Real [Madrid] were very insistent, but Neymar didn't want to play for [Real] Madrid. He wanted to go to Barcelona," Ribeiro said.
He also said that Barca players like Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique personally reached out to young Neymar back then.
This time around, regardless of which players call, money will decide the Brazilian's fate. Ribeiro knows that the dealings around such a high profile player can be tricky, after claiming that former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell eased him out of the deal when Neymar moved to Camp Nou from Santos.
In the end, he believes that not even some of the biggest clubs like Manchester City or Juventus can afford his former client.
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