Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar said in court on Tuesday that he ‘did not participate in negotiations’ when he moved from Santos to Barcelona in 2013.
The 30-year-old, along with his parents, former Barcelona presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, former Santos president Odilio Rodrigues, and executives from both clubs, are on trial on fraud and corruption charges related to the deal, which they deny.
Santos are believed to have earned roughly £79.2 million for the transfer of Neymar to Barcelona, but Brazilian investment company DIS claims it was cheated out of its due portion since the transfer was undervalued.
The firm’s lawyer, Paulo Nasser, alleged last week that Neymar “betrayed” their trust, and the investment company wants the Brazilian star to serve a five-year jail term.
Meanwhile, if Neymar is found guilty, Spanish prosecutors are demanding a two-year prison sentence and a €10m (£8.7m) fine, as well as a five-year prison sentence for Rosell.
Rosell was president of Barcelona from 2010 to 2014, and was succeeded by Bartomeu, who served until October 2020, with Joan Laporta named as his successor.
“I didn’t participate in the negotiations,” Neymar told the court in Barcelona in his first testimony of his trial. My father always took care of it and always will. I sign everything he tells me to sign.
“Playing for Barcelona was always my dream, a childhood dream.”
Neymar’s father, Neymar da Silva Santos, added: “Our intention was to prepare a career plan for him in Europe, in which we had in place already established, could learn the language, etc. And knowing his dream to play for Barcelona, we signed that priority agreement with them.”
Defence counsel Maria Masso has stated that the forward has not committed any crime and that the Spanish courts lack jurisdiction to try the Neymar family since the alleged offences happened in Brazil, where they are not punishable by law.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez testified via videolink that the Spanish giants offered bids of €45m in 2011 and €36m in 2013 to get Neymar from Santos, but the star opted to join Barcelona instead.
Related: Neymar Criticizes Ballon D’or Rankings As Vinicius Ranked 8th
According to Tribal Football, Perez stated: “I don’t know Neymar, I’ve never spoken to him on a personal level. We were interested in signing Neymar about 10 years ago. In 2011, Real Madrid made Santos an offer for Neymar. I believe it was €45m. It’s written in the summary.
“Players go where they want to go. I think Neymar wanted to go to Barcelona and that’s why he went to Barcelona. The offer in 2011 was €45m, not €60m.
“I don’t know or remember if DIS had any rights to Neymar. I remember they sent us a letter. I don’t remember meeting or having conversations with Juan Figer. I don’t remember anything at all. We have provided all documentation to the abstract. I was not involved in anything. I guess we didn’t respond to the DIS letter because we had nothing to say.
“We did not play a very active role in this negotiation. I have been at Real Madrid for 18 years and all the offers we have made to players have been transparent. All these questions at Real Madrid are dealt with by the sports management. I don’t know anything about what you’re telling me.”
Neymar is expected to miss PSG’s Ligue 1 match against Ajaccio on Friday night due to the ongoing court case.
COMMENTS