Barcelona lock up Neymar with new deal and huge release clause
In July, Barcelona announced that Neymar would be signing a new five-year deal with the club, tying him to the Blaugrana through 2021. With his travels due to the Olympics, and time off after the Games, Neymar and Barcelona never got around to actually putting pen to paper, but that time is now finally here:
In a statement, Barcelona announced that "the act to officialise Neymar's contract renewal will take place on Oct. 21 at the club's offices at 3pm. As the club have previously announced, Neymar's new contract with FC Barcelona will end on Jun. 30, 2021."
Neymar's salary will reportedly be set at €16 million, and his new buyout clause will start at €200 million for the first year of the deal, €222m for the second and increase to €250m for the final three years.
Earlier this year, Neymar's agent confirmed that the sharks were circling, with Paris Saint-Germain allegedly willing activate his €193 million release clause and hand him a €650,000 a week salary after taxes.
Understandably, Barcelona were concerned with the prospect of losing their 24-year-old superstar due to Spain's tax laws and the absurd amounts of (tax free) cash being tossed in his face, so they moved to tie Brazil's main man to a new deal. And it looks like everyone's happy. Neymar gets a new, bumper deal at a place where he's happy and productive, and Barcelona get to hold onto one of the world's biggest stars. The only real losers here? Paris Saint-Germain.
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[CONTRACT NEWS] @neymarjr will sign new contract on Friday that will keep him at the Club until June 2021 pic.twitter.com/RG8M6StxSC
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 17, 2016
