Neymar’s agent has revealed Paris Saint-Germain offered the Barcelona forward a staggering £650,000-a-week contract to join the Ligue 1 champions this summer.
The Brazilian superstar put pen to paper on a new five-year deal with Barcelona midway through the summer but there was a record-breaking offer on the table from PSG to sign the 24-year-old.
According to Wagner Ribeiro, who has represented Neymar in the past and remains close to the family, PSG were prepared to pay Barcelona £160m and offer Neymar an annual salary of £33.8m.
“He was very close to PSG. He would have earned €40m (£33.8m), free.” Ribeiro told ESPN Brasil, via The Guardian. “Neymar was also close to a move to Manchester United. But he renewed his contract for less money with Barcelona, because he wanted to stay in Barcelona.
Neymar is yet to feature for Barcelona this season after leading Brazil to Olympic glory last month, but last season was his finest at the Camp Nou to date. He played a direct hand in 36 goals in 34 games (24 goals, 12 assists), which was the first time he has managed to play a part in more goals than he has made appearances in his three years at the club.
For more stats on Neymar, click here to visit his WhoScored player page