Neymar: The Most Expensive Goodbye In Football

On Thursday 3rd August 2017, the most intriguing transfer saga came to a conclusion.

Barcelona announced they had received a record breaking transfer fee reported to be in the region of £198 million from Paris Saint-Germain for the flamboyant Brazilian playmaker Neymar.

 

Eyebrow raising

The figures that are involved in the deal are astonishing; the transfer fee alone is more than double the amount of the previous transfer record when Manchester United prized Paul Pogba away from Juventus for a then mind-blowing £89 million.

Further to this Neymar reported earnings are sure to raise eyebrows, as Neymar is set to earn approximately £540,000 per week which works out to be £27 million after tax.

These figures sparked a lot of debate in football and fans alike.

 

Just gotta accept the current reality

The chances are you won’t be able to justify the figures to an average person earning minimum wage, but the question is are to we accept football for what it is and the ridiculous amount of money being spent on players?

Especially when you take into account the background of PSG’s ownership which comes from the Qatari Investment Group (QSI) which took over the club in 2011 making PSG one of the wealthiest clubs in the game.

Given the vast resources of the owners, £198 million will seem like pocket change in the grand scheme of things.

Also one should consider that it will not take too long for the owners to recoup their investment in Neymar because of all the revenue streams that the Brazilian is going to bring to the club along with his football skills and the potential to win the trophies namingly the Champions League.

 

FFP doesn’t really matter sometimes

Of course there is a lot of debate around whether PSG are breaking the Financial Fair Play rules which was introduced by UEFA to stop clubs spending huge amounts of money and to reinstate financial balance.

There was a point when La Liga threatened to block the transfer.

However, the fact they didn’t put up much of a fight seems to give the impression that Financial Fair Play is not a rule but just a concept that somebody has suggested because in the end all parties involved in the deal walked away with a smile on their face.

 

Written by Tahir Tariq

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