Neymar will replace Lionel Messi as Barcelona’s main man
Little surprise Neymar declared himself ‘Muito Feliz (very happy)’ to be staying at Barcelona on social media. Barcelona just announced the new contract announced on Friday. And Neymar has taken another huge step towards becoming the club’s top-earner and pivotal figure.
Neymar will replace Lionel Messi as Barcelona’s main man
He has signed a new five-year deal that will take him up to 2021. Neymar will be 29 years old by then, Lionel Messi’s age as of now.
Neymar will have replaced the Argentine as the most important man at the Nou Camp by then. And the club added a rolling buy-out clause on his new deal. It will be harder to steal him away from Catalonia than ever.
‘He never presented us with another offer from another club,’ said Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu this week. ‘But it is true that all Barca players could find clubs that would pay them more.’
Neymar’s lawyer Marcos Motta originally called the new contract the ‘biggest’ in football. But he rapidly corrected himself – it’s not the biggest, it’s the ‘best’.
City and United, as well as Paris Saint-Germain have missed out on him this time. It also means that if they want to try again in the coming years it will be even tougher. His buyout clause immediately rises to 200m euros (£168m). And it will take another jump to 222m euros (£186m) in 2017 and a further leap to 250m (£210m) in 2018.
Barcelona still have no shirt sponsor for next season. Although president Bartomeu announced on Thursday that they should pass the 670m euros (£562.3m) mark for income generated in the 2015-16 season. They finally announce end of financial year figures then and they are also confident of striking a 200m euro (£168m) deal when they sell naming rights on the renovated Nou Camp.
