MADRID: Barcelona paid €95m for Brazilian superstar Neymar and not the €57m claimed by the club, according to El Mundo, writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

The newspaper claims today that the difference of €38m is clear from contracts between the Spanish champions and the player which are being studied by the High Court after a complaint by club member Jordi Cases.

Barcelona have always denied wrongdong either by the club or by president Sandro Rosell in the negotiations. It has already once threatened legal action against El Mundo.

Seven separate documents before Judge Pablo Ruz and signed between November 2011 and September 2013, include extra commissions to the player’s family which had previously gone unreported.

Apparently Neymar’s father was paid €2m to seek ‘new young players’ from Santos, the player’s previous club; another €4m to buy out ‘advertising contracts of Brazilian companies’ and a further €2.5m intended to help ‘children of the favelas of Sao Paulo.’

Most of these contracts were signed after the Brazilian star was presented at Camp Nou on his formal transfer last summer after he had starred for Brazil’s winning team at the Confederations Cup.

Destination

El Mundo says the total value of contracts would suggest that Neymar was more expensive than both Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (€94m) and Gareth Bale (€91.5m).

The absence of specific information about the destination and accounting of the extra commissions raises issues about where the money really goes and whether it could be construed as ‘hidden’ income for the player.

When Neymar joing Barcelona, at the conclusion of a two-year transfer chase, the stated sum was €57.1m of which €17.1 went to Santos and €40m to the player’s representative company N&N (initials representing the player’s father and mother: Neymar & Nadine).

The initial deal between Barcelona and N&N was signed on November 15, 2011. This provided for a first payment of €40m plus a first instalment of €10m as a loan against the conclusion of the eventual transfer.

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