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| Paris St Germain and Brazil forward Neymar |
Paris St Germain and Brazil forward Neymar has been ordered to pay his former club Barcelona 6.7 million euros ($7.51 million) after losing a lawsuit over an unpaid bonus, the Spanish champions said in a statement on Friday.
Neymar moved from Barca to PSG for a world record fee of 222 million euros in 2017 but took the La Liga side to court over the terms of the last contract he signed with them a year earlier, claiming he was entitled to 43.6 million euros.
โBarcelona expresses its satisfaction with the verdict announced today in relation to the lawsuit involving FC Barcelona and the player Neymar Jr regarding the amount of the signing bonus in the final renewal of the playerโs contract,โ said the clubโs statement.
โThe ruling has fully dismissed the playerโs claim for payment of 43.6 million euros, and has accepted a large part of the defence presented by FC Barcelona, as a result of which the player must return 6.7 million euros to the club.
โSince the playerโs representative is entitled to appeal this decision, the club shall continue to fervently defend its legitimate interests.โ
Neymarโs representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
Despite their long-running legal dispute, Barca tried to sign Neymar last year and the player even stopped training with PSG in order to try and force through the move, prompting angry protests from the French sideโs supporters.
The move eventually broke down, with PSGโs sporting director Leonardo claiming Barca failed to meet their asking price for the forward, who formed a world-beating attacking trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez between 2014 and 2017.
REUTERS
