Guillem Balague

GUILLEM BALAGUE'S VIEW


03/08/17

Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Guillem Balague has taken to Twitter this morning to give us a few clues about Neymar's move to PSG.

Here's the list of tweets Balague has sent out...

"Having passed his medical yesterday in Porto, PSG expect him to travel to Paris and be presented this week."

"€222m buy out clause will be paid but details of transfer will come out (a Qatar loan/sponsorship?) in 2018-19 when UEFA checks accounts."

"Neymar asked PSG this summer if last year's offer stood. City, Chelsea, MUFC also showed interest last summer but Neymar wanted only PSG."

"La Liga say that they will not accept the buy out clause payment but that threat has got no legal foundation at all."

"FCB has identified Coutinho, Griezmann and Dembele as candidates to replace him, but think the last one is at this point the most likely."

"Coinciding with FCB interest, R.Madrid leak they also want Dembele -sounds like a way of pushing his price up for Catalans."

Neymar agrees five-year Paris Saint-Germain deal ahead of world-record £450m transfer from Barcelona
By Bryan Swanson


Neymar has agreed a five-year deal with Paris Saint-Germain and is due in Paris within the next two days to finalise the most expensive transfer in world football history, according to Sky sources.


Sky Sports News understands that Neymar decided to leave Barcelona following talks on holiday near Rio de Janeiro in early July, before he joined the club's pre-season tour of the United States.

He is expected to arrive in the French capital by Friday at the latest to complete his move.

It is understood the total value of the deal is worth nearly £450m (€500m), which includes wages, bonuses and a buyout clause of £198m (€222m). Neymar has been offered a basic salary of £26.8m-a-year (€30m) after tax, around £515,000-a-week.

Sky Sports News has been told that a key meeting took place in Brazil earlier last month involving Neymar, his father and super-agent Pini Zahavi, who has brokered the deal.

Zahavi has known Neymar since the age of 17 and has become one of his closest advisors.

A source in Spain close to Neymar has told Sky Sports News: "Since he decided to leave, Neymar has had to deal with huge pressure to stay at Barcelona. His teammates wanted him to stay but his decision was made."

The source added that Neymar had been "close" to joining Manchester United in last summer's transfer market but chose PSG after a further season at Barcelona.

Neymar is expected to join five Brazilian international teammates at PSG, including Dani Alves and Thiago Silva.

The source said: "People will say this has been driven by money, but he wants to become the leader at the club. He wants to be independent, and wants to win the Ballon d'Or. He believes he can do that in Paris."

La Liga president Javier Tebas has threatened to block the transfer but it's understood PSG officials remain "very confident" there will be no issues with the buyout clause.

PSG has yet to confirm whether an agreement has been reached.

Neymar worth £198m, says Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho
By Stephen Turner


Jose Mourinho says £198m for Neymar represents value for money but will have damaging consequences for the transfer market.

Paris Saint-Germain will more than double the current transfer record if their deal for Barcelona's Brazilian superstar goes through as expected this week.

Mourinho sanctioned the previous mark of £89m for Paul Pogba and argued earlier this year that price would soon look "cheap".

And while the Manchester United boss has criticised the growing numbers of "£30m, £40m and £50m" transfers, he said: "For £200m I don't think he is expensive.

"'I think he is expensive in the fact that now you are going to have more players at £100m, you are going have more players at £80m and more players at £60m. I think that's the problem.

"Neymar is one of the best players in the world, commercially he is very strong and for sure Paris Saint-Germain thought about it. So I think the problem is not Neymar, I think the problem is the consequences of Neymar."

It is understood that the deal for Neymar, taking wages and bonuses into account, will cost PSG almost £450m.

And Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has questioned how such an outlay is possible within the confines of UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules.

"There are clubs that can pay fees like that," he said. "Manchester City and PSG. Everyone knows that.

"I thought fair play was made so that situations like that can't happen. That's more of a suggestion than a real rule. I don't understand that. I don't know how it happens."

A UEFA spokesman said on Monday: "PSG must respect Financial Fair Play rules as do all other clubs in Europe. They must demonstrate that they do not have losses of more than €30m over three years."