Neymar moving to PSG less of a worry than Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi leaving Real Madrid or Barcelona

The Brazilian could finally make his reported £198m move to Paris this week 

Jack Austin
Monday 31 July 2017 11:13 BST
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Neymar was tipped to take over from Ronaldo and Messi as a Ballon d'Or winner
Neymar was tipped to take over from Ronaldo and Messi as a Ballon d'Or winner (Getty)

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Neymar moving to Paris Saint-Germain is less of a concern to Spanish football than if either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi left Real Madrid or Fc Barcelona respectively, according to La Liga president Javier Tebas.

The Brazilian superstar looks set to join PSG before the start of the season, shattering the world-record transfer fee in the process, with the Parisians willing to pay £198m for the 25-year-old.

Neymar further fuelled speculation of a move after a heated training ground clash with new signing Nelson Semedo last week.

The loss of Neymar would be huge off the pitch for Barcelona as well as on it, with the league likely to suffer too as a result, but Tebas has insisted he would be more worried if it was one of the two players who have shared the Ballon d’Or since 2008.

“La Liga and Barcelona are bigger than Neymar,” he told Marca. “I would be more worried if Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi left.”

He did, however, remain confident that under Fifa Financial Fair Play regulations, no deal would be able to be completed and vowed to report PSG, regardless of how much they pay for Neymar.

“Even if they don't pay the release clause we will report them,” he added.

“They cannot make up some commercial numbers that are bigger than Barcelona or Real Madrid.

“Nobody believes that, which means that the state of Qatar is injecting money and that violates Financial Fair Play.”

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