Neymar officially joins Paris Saint-Germain for world record 222m euros on five-year contract

Twitter (@PSG_English)

New Delhi: Brazilian superstar Neymar joined French club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) early Friday morning, minutes after Barcelona confirmed the receipt of the player's buyout amount, for a world record fee of 222 mn euros (£200 mn) on a five-year contract.

The 25-year-old striker thus eclipsed previous record set by French forward, Paul Pogba, who returned to Manchester United from Juventus for £89 mn in August 2016.

On a hectic day, the Catalan giants initially refused to accept the payment, saying their French counterparts LFP should “abide by FIFA’s rules”, but succumbed to the buyer pressure which was reportedly orchestrated by the player's father. Barca eventually terminated the contract thus paving the way for "ambitious" PSG to seal the deal.

Under an initial five-year deal, the former Santos player is expected to earn at least 45 mn euros (£40.7 mn) a year at 865,000 euros (£782,000) a week before tax. Confirming the transfer, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of PSG, called him “one of the very best players in world [soccer]" and said that "his winning mentality, strength of character and sense of leadership have made him into a great player."

After signing the most expensive transfer in football history, Neymar also released a statement saying that he has joined "one of the most ambitious clubs in Europe".

"Since I arrived in Europe, the club has always been one of the most competitive and most ambitious. And the biggest challenge, what most motivated me to join my new teammates is to help the club to conquer the titles that their fans want.

"Paris Saint-Germain's ambition attracted me to the club, along with the passion and the energy this brings. I played four seasons in Europe and I feel ready to take the challenge. From today, I will do everything I can to help my new teammates, to open up new horizons for my club and to bring happiness to its millions of supporters around the world," he added.

He also released a lengthy farewell message to Barcelona on social media, in line with the ones released by Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez on their 'little brother'. The trio formed possibly the greatest ever front three in football's history, and they destroyed opponents with an eponymous MSN.

His priority with the new club would be winning the UEFA Champions League, and then focus on the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Unlike in Barcelona, Neymar will have many of his Brazilian team-mates in the French capital — a fact that pundits have relentlessly emphasised as one the factors which prompted the move.

Neymar won one Champions League, two La Liga, three Copa del Rey and a FIFA Club World Cup titles, but was under the shadow of mercurial Lionel Messi. It's ironic though that the Brazilian has joined the club, which he single-handedly knocked out of Champions League last season in the last eight early this year.

On that fateful day in March, an 88th Neymar free-kick gave Barcelona a glimmer of hope at Camp Nou. Then, the scoreline read 4-5 in favour of the visitors. Two minutes later, he earned a penalty and converted it to level the score at 5-5. With seconds left in the match, he produced a perfect pass to set-up Sergi Roberto’s winning goal.

Those three goals in seven minutes and 17 seconds have the Neymar imprint, which nouveau riche PSG have been desperately chasing for some time with the blessings of Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), which acquired the club in 2011 in hope to establish a leading global sports brand.

Even then, the limelight was focussed on Messi. A particular photo of the Argentinean standing above a group of frenzied fans in full glory after the win reportedly garnered as much as 70 million views within two days of publication. But for many Neymar fans, it's a moment hijacked by world's 'best player' from their favourite player.

The French giants will unveil their biggest ever signing on the eve of club's first game of the season, against Amiens at Parc des Princes on Saturday. It will be solely dedicated to Neymar, without the looming shadow of Messi in the frame. Yes, the very likelihood of Neymar making his PSG debut in the match is also bright.

Reports also claimed that the No. 10 shirt at PSG has already been offered to Neymar, with previous occupant Javier Pastore set to wear the No. 27 jersey.

After a relatively quiet season at Camp Nou, where he scored only 20 goals in all competitions and lifted two trophies — Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup — with Barca, Neymar became the subject of intense speculation all summer. It was followed by avoidable episodes during the club's pre-season tour, including a training ground bust up with newly arrived Portuguese defender Nelson Semedo, who committed a challenge on the want-away player.

The first true signs of his intention to end the thriving MSN of Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar and leaving Barcelona emerged late last month during the team's stay in the United States. But the club's new manager Ernesto Valverde continued to deny the reports as mere rumours. Then one of club's towering figures and defender, Gerard Pique backtracked on his 'he stays' tweet, sparking panic at Barcelona.

All these while, Neymar maintained a silence, thus fueling the rumours. He even starred in Barcelona's 2-1 win over Juventus by scoring two stunning goals in a pre-season International Champions Cup match at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey.

Then Barcelona’s worst fears turned real when Neymar finally opened up and informed Barca officials that he intends to leave the club on Wednesday during a visit to Camp Nou. During the same visit, he reportedly said goodbye to his team-mates.

It was followed by his PSG physical at Porto, which all but confirmed the move.

Last season, Barca renewed his contract until 2021, and inserted a buyout clause so huge, which many read as 'not for sale'. Well, the unthinkable has happened. Neymar joined Barca in June, 2013 on a five-year deal, after seasons of courting from various other European heavyweights like Real Madrid and Chelsea.

And, it remains to be seen how the new pair performs in front of the world.

Here’s how the transfer was completed, vis-à-vis buyout clause…

In Spain, the player himself needs to buy himself out under the buyout clause. It can be done by depositing the amount of the buyout clause with La Liga, then the league passes the money onto the parent club. Of course, the sum that Neymar's lawyers paid in person to complete the transfer was coughed up by PSG.

It’s another matter how PSG will meet the UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations after spending such an obscene amount to buy one player. Neymar is also not the only player the Qatar-backed club has signed this summer. PSG already bought Neymar's former Barca team-mater ad compatriot Dani Alves, former Real Madrid's French forward Jese and other three players.

By the way, FFF rules stipulate that European clubs cannot outspend their earnings by more than 30m euros.

If PSG, unluckily, fail to pass the FFF regulations, Neymar and the club's dreams of playing the coveted Champions League in the 2018-19 season would turn into a horrible nightmare. This is what many of the anti-Neymar groups in Spain and elsewhere will be praying for.