Wagner Ribeiro, Neymar’s agent, has opened a book about the negotiations surrounding the transfer of his client from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain. The attacker’s switch shocked the football world in 2017, but Ribeiro tells us L’Équipe that he had a conversation with representatives of PSG a year earlier. The Ligue 1 superpower then made remarkable proposals to convince the star football player of a transfer to Paris.
In the summer of 2016, Ribeiro, Neymar, his father, club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and sports director Olivier Létang met for the first time in a hotel in Ibiza. “We spoke on the top floor. We made sure no one could see us; no one took pictures,” said Neymar’s advocate. “Nasser made a fantastic offer. Neymar was making 11 million euros a year at Barcelona at the time and Nasser offered him 26 million euros. I then asked for 40 million. He said he would consider it and that part of it. amount could be paid in the form of a hotel chain by the name of Neymar, taking a percentage of the revenues, he would also give him a private jet that would allow Neymar to travel between Europe and Brazil and even suggested the name by projecting Neymar onto the Eiffel Tower: it was absurd! ”
In the end, Neymar stayed another year in Barcelona, but at an improved salary of 28 million euros. He then made the switch to Paris for 222 million euros, where he started to earn almost 37 million euros on an annual basis. “It was impossible to decline such an offer,” said Ribeiro, who admits in passing that his client was playing with the idea of leaving PSG in 2018. Real Madrid was interested at the time. “Florentino Pérez (chairman, ed.) Told me he was willing to pay 300 million euros.” Al-Khelaifi informed Ribeiro personally as well as in the press that he wanted to receive at least one billion euros for Neymar. With that, a transfer was actually off the track. Three years later, too, a departure seems far away. “Fortunately, Neymar is here and only PSG can afford him. Real Madrid has financial problems. In Barcelona they are even bigger. Italian clubs cannot compete. Manchester United and Manchester City? I don’t see that happening either. Neymar plays for a very good club. This season PSG will win the Champions League and Neymar conquers the Ballon d’Or ”, predicts Ribeiro.
Real Madrid was already after Neymar when he played at Santos. The Royal the attacker scouted at a very young age and became involved in a battle with Barcelona for his signature. “Florentino thought he had Neymar in. He said ‘yes’ to a proposal I made. He wanted to pay Santos forty million euros and meet all our requirements. Neymar’s father wanted extra time to think, because his son wanted the best. to Barcelona. Real Madrid sent three men to Brazil to complete the transfer. They stayed there for twenty days, saying, “Come on, we can sign tomorrow!” But Neymar wanted to go to Barcelona. Lionel Messi and Gerard Piqué called him personally. I wanted him to go to Madrid. I had a good relationship with Florentino, but Sandro Rosell (then President of Barcelona) left me out of all conversations. not paid a cent for the transfer of Neymar. They worked with André Cury (scout from Barcelona in Brazil), who approached Neymar’s father. Neymar wanted to play with Messi and that was his choice. For me it was not nice, but I respected the choice. I felt humiliated because I wasn’t even allowed to be there when he signed his contract and was presented. “
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