Press reports revealed that the Brazilian Neymar, the current player of Paris Saint-Germain and the former Barcelona, cried more than once and was hesitant before moving to the French capital, and that his father wanted him to stay in the Spanish club, but revealing the value of his renewal reward for Barcelona turned things upside down.
Neymar is the third victim of the Spanish press leaks, following revealing Messi’s fictional requests to renew his contract with Barcelona in 2020, and Pique’s claim to be the highest-paid defender in the world and get more money than his colleague in the Spanish national team Sergio Ramos.
A report published by the newspaper “El Mundo” stated that the Barcelona administration had formed a crisis management team in order to persuade Neymar to stay in the Catalan team, led by Raul Sanllehi, the club’s director of football at the time, who was responsible for talks with Neymar and his father.
Sanllehi said that the club’s management revealed the bonus for Neymar’s renewal of his contract with Barcelona in October 2016, which amounted to 64.4 million euros, was the main reason for Neymar’s father’s anger and loss of confidence in the club’s management, although he wanted his son to remain in the ranks of the blue and red team.
Sanllehi says: I dealt with Neymar’s father a lot and sat with him for hours and hours, I know when he tells the truth and when he is lying, in that case I am sure he was on our side and wants Neymar to continue with us.
He continued: The problem was in Neymar’s head, the boy had many personal problems, he was very weak and confused, so I thought that leaving Barcelona means his escape from his problems, he had to face them.
And he continued: I spoke to him several times, I cried more than once, but he always assured me that he was feeling lost and lost.
He concluded: His father was angry at revealing the reward for his signature and told me that you had deceived me, and demanded to pay it once and immediately, and here Neymar left.
The Brazilian moved from Barcelona to Paris in the summer of 2017, following the latter paid the fee for breaking the penalty clause in his contract, which amounted to 222 million euros.