Barcelona (AFP) – After a summer of courtship, with Barcelona wooing Neymar to come back, the Brazilian star and his former club have finally agreed a date — but in court rather than on the pitch.
Both sides will meet at a court in the Barcelona suburbs on Friday for a multi-million-euro legal battle over a contract dispute.
Although a court spokesman said the 27-year-old superstar was obliged to show up person, it was not immediately clear whether he would actually attend.
Barca initially sued Neymar for breach of contract after his shock transfer to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, less than a year after signing a new five-year deal with the Catalan giants.
Worth 222 million euros ($250 million at the time), the transfer remains the highest sum ever paid for a player.
Barcelona are demanding 8.5 million euros in damages plus interest, and have refused to pay Neymar the 26 million euros which were part of his contract renewal bonus signed in 2016.
The Brazilian responded by filing suit against the club over the unpaid bonus, with the two sides set to face off at a labour court on Friday morning.
But his return to the city will be far from the triumphant homecoming the Catalan club had hoped after a summer locked in futile talks with PSG to allow the world’s most expensive player to return.
“Neymar did everything possible (to sign for Barcelona) because it was what he wanted,” Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said earlier this month.
“The deal didn’t go through because the club could not meet PSG’s demands.”
“It’s a closed chapter,” the striker said after making his first appearance with PSG 10 days ago after four months out as he tried to secure a return to Barca. The Paris home crowd booed and jeered him during the 1-0 win against Strasbourg in which he scored the only goal.
– ‘The taxman watching’ –
With the long-running transfer saga over for now, the legal dispute takes centre stage, focusing on the contract renewal bonus that was signed between the player and the club in 2016.
Although the full sum of the bonus has never been clear, Neymar received an initial payout and was to have received the rest in stages over the course of his new contract.
But when he moved to PSG barely a year later, Barcelona refused to pay.
The Spanish club are demanding that he return the part of the bonus he already received as well as 8.5 million euros plus interests in compensation for breach of contract.
from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/2mQ0CgW
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