Most Expensive Transfer in Soccer 222 million Euros

[Ericandblueboy]

After renewing his contract last year with Barca and adding a 222 million euro release clause, Neymar is moving to Paris St. Germain.  I am shocked because PSG is an inferior league, and PSG basically has no rivals.  I wonder how Barca will spend that cash from the sale of Neymar.  In any case, there are going to be some important transfers as Barca will seek to replace Neymar, and any team that loses to Barca will also seek replacements.

 

[DanielK]

No shock for anyone who saw interviews with him.

He was the #3 draw for Barca, behind Messi and Suarez, and he wants to cement his legacy as one of the greatest players ever. You can't do that when one of the greatest ever to play the game is ahead of you on the depth chart.

PSG has Qatar money behind them, so unlimited funds. They'll make back the transfer fee in jersey sales the first year alone.

Plus, half the Brazilian national team is now on PSG. Neymar said he wanted a more Brazilian feeling in the locker room.

[Ericandblueboy]

PSG has money but they will run afoul of the financial fair play rules if they don't sell lots of players.

Most of the jersey profit goes to Nike, which has a contract until 2021/2022. 

Not only do they pay 222 million euros to Barca now, they essentially are paying Neymar 60 million euros/year because Neymar's salary is 35 million euros net of taxes. 

No national team can beat Barca or Real.

[Ericandblueboy]

Here's a short summary of financial fair play implications from ESPN FC:

It's just that we won't know until the fall of 2018, when seasons 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 are cumulatively assessed, whether PSG violated FFP rules, which dictate that no more than $35.6m can be lost over three seasons, though some expenses and revenues aren't included in the FFP calculation.

And that last part is crucial. PSG's official accounts show a profit of $12m for 2015-16 but that's largely irrelevant because more than a quarter of their revenues came courtesy of a sponsorship deal with the Qatar Tourism Authority, worth some $240m. UEFA found the amount to be grossly inflated and discounted it by around 50 percent.

They have the power to do the same if things don't add up. And, by the way, spending $262m on Neymar doesn't mean a $262m hit in their accounts. Transfer fees get amortized over the life of a contract, which means it will cost them a fifth in his first year.

Throw in his wages and you're looking at north of $100m which, while still a frightening number -- Messi is costing Barcelona half of that -- is possibly more manageable if you're smart with your sales and you squeeze out commercial revenue properly.