Barcelona (AFP)
Spanish justice dismissed Friday the Brazilian striker Neymar, who demanded from FC Barcelona the payment of 43.6 million euros in extension premium not collected after his transfer to PSG, and ordered him to reimburse 6.79 million euros to his old club.
By terminating his contract before the end of the latter, Neymar "did not have the right to receive the sum" he asked for, and "will have to reimburse the club the perceived excess of the extension premium, to have terminated his contract without justification, "said a Barcelona court in a ruling on Friday.
At the time of his departure to Paris in the summer of 2017 for the record amount of 222 million euros, Neymar had initiated proceedings to obtain the full payment by Barça of an extension premium of 64.4 million d euros before taxes, but this Friday's decision rejected his request.
In any case, this affair further complicates the hypothesis of a possible return of "Ney" (28) to Barcelona, where the Brazilian stayed for four years (2013-2017), winning the Champions League in 2015. During In the summer of 2019, Barça recognized an interest in bringing Neymar back to Catalonia, without managing to find an agreement with PSG.
The club, which had already paid part of the bonus to the player (20.75 million euros), had also filed a complaint against Neymar to recover the total of this first payment, and to obtain in addition 8.5 million euros of damages with interest.
The two parties had been heard at the industrial tribunal on September 27, then had given their conclusions on October 21.
Barça, which welcomed in a statement the decision made Friday, nevertheless recalled that Neymar could appeal and that the club would continue "to defend with firmness its interests" before justice.
© 2020 AFP