Sports
NEYMAR Jr. completed his switch to Paris Saint-Germain as the world’s most expensive player, a tag that is considered will be a burden on him.
But the Brazilian has dismissed that saying, “being the most expensive player in the world is not a burden. I weigh 69kg. I don’t have a burden on me.”
That was while he was answering reporter’s questions at the unveiling event which was live on global television as well as on various social media platforms.
While his move to Paris, hailed, it was with different feelings at Barcelona where he departed. He carefully picked his words while remarking on his former club.
“I have nothing to say really – I’m not sad, I’m really happy. I wrote my chapter there – I won some trophies, I did everything I could there, but you can’t make everyone happy. What I want to say to the fans is: thank you for your friendship.”
His new home ground is now Parc de Princes, the stadium where Nigeria last won a World Cup match, defeating Bulgaria 1-0 in 1998 before recording another win 16 years later in Brazil. Neymar was asked who he spoke to at PSG to make the move.
“It was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve made to move. It wasn’t easy at all to leave Barcelona. I had to think, and re-think, and think again about what I wanted to do.
“I leave a lot of good friends behind, but that’s football. Of course I would like to thank all my friends at Barcelona, but I felt it was the right time to leave and look for new challenges. I spoke with the Brazilian players at PSG – they are my friends, and I feel at home already.”
He was then asked if he was influenced by the Brazilian players at PSG to join the club. “Yes. The environment here is very positive.
“I had to think about what I wanted to do with my life. It’s very complicated to think about this. As soon as I made my decision, when I was 100% sure, I communicated that. My heart told me to come to PSG.”
While welcoming the good look Brazilian, the PSG president, Al-Khelaifi remarked: “He’s already very handsome, but with the PSG journey, even more so.”
Like in the contract that Neymar signed with FC Barcelona, Al-Khelaifi confirmed there is a buyout clause in Neymar’s new contract, but wouldn’t specify the amount.
“When you think about Neymar as a brand, maybe it won’t be so expensive. We’re definitely going to make more money than we spent. We’ve been very transparent from day one about FFP. There’s no problem with that. We have a team working day and night. For anyone worrying about FFP, I say: don’t worry, go and have a coffee.”
Neymar dismissed the wide held belief that the transfer to Paris was mainly for the monetary value. But hear his response: “It’s not about money. Definitely not about money.
“These people don’t know anything about me. Money was never my motivation. I want to be happy, and I want my family to be happy. I’m really sad to hear that people think this way. If it was just about money, I could have gone somewhere else.
Al-Khelaifi corroborated this, saying “I can guarantee you he didn’t come for money. He could have got more money elsewhere. He came here for the competition, for the challenge.
“Today it’s very positive for us, and it’s a great moment for us. It’s headlines everywhere in the world – we’re going to talk about this transfer for a long time. He didn’t come for money, he came to win trophies. “
Ironically, Neymar Jr contributed to two of the six goals that FC Barcelona scored to eliminate PSG from the last edition of the UEFA Champions League.
Aug 14, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT
Tags: Al-Khelaifi remarked FC Barcelona I Joined PSG for Challenges Neymar NEYMAR Jr. completedNEYMAR Jr. completed Not Money - Neymar PSG president Saint-Germain UEFA Champions League world’s most expensive player
