Neymar: Barcelona forward given permission to leave in £198m deal

BARCELONA forward Neymar has been given permission to discuss a world record 222 million euro (£198 million) transfer with Paris St-Germain.
The Brazil international told his team-mates at training on Wednesday that he wanted to leave the Spanish club.
He was then given permission by Barca manager Ernesto Valverde not to train and to “sort out his future”.
The 25-year-old contract has a release clause set at 222m euros, which PSG are understood to be ready to pay.
The latest development comes two days after it emerged Barca were ready to push for a Financial Fair Play investigation if PSG signed Neymar.
That came after La Liga president Javier Tebas threatened, in an interview with Mundo Deportivo, a legal response against the former Ligue 1 champions if European football’s governing body failed to take action.
He also said PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi had been made aware of the Spanish league’s intentions.
Neymar moved to Barcelona from Brazilian club Santos in 2013 for £48.6 million, and signed a new five-year deal with the 24-time Spanish champions in 2016.
His representative Wagner Ribeiro, who on Wednesday tweeted he was in Paris, said last year that his client had been offered a tax-free £650,000 a week to sign for the French club.
He also said the forward “was close to a move to Manchester United”.
Rumours of Neymar’s potential departure resurfaced recently, but club president Josep Maria Bartomeu told the BBC the player would be staying.
Neymar played for the Catalan side in the recent International Champions Cup in the United States, before travelling to China to fulfil commercial commitments.
He travelled back to Spain on Tuesday and returned to the club’s training ground on Wednesday.
The Brazilian has scored 105 goals for Barcelona, helping them to two league titles, three Copas del Rey and a Champions League crown.

(BBC)