- 18 May 2024
Neymar transfer best for everyone - PSG say goodbye to world-record signing
Stuart Telford
- 18 Aug 2023 19:59 BST
- 3 min read
Neymar has completed an €80 million transfer from Paris Saint-Germain to Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League - something new PSG manager Luis Enrique thinks is best for everyone.
Neymar has cut a controversial figure since arriving in Paris from Barcelona in a world record €222m transfer in the summer of 2017.
At his glistening best, he was a mercurial attacker who plundered 118 goals and 77 assists in 173 games with PSG, but there was frustration with Neymar among fans and players alike.
READ: REVEALED: The incredible perks Neymar will receive in Saudi move
All told, he missed more than 100 games through injury - often, suspiciously, coinciding with his younger sister Rafaella Santos' 11 March birthday - while his relationship with Kylian Mbappe was often frayed.
Neymar is now the joint-third highest paid player in the world, with a €100m annual salary 🤑 pic.twitter.com/BHWRLHXSxN
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) August 15, 2023
Neymar's sale 'win-win'
"I think it was a win-win decision," Enrique said when asked about Neymar's transfer away from the Parc des Princes. "I'd like to thank him for the behaviour he has shown since I arrived. He's a world class player and I wish him the best for the future."
Neymar's departure has coincided the Mbappe's reinstatement at the club.
READ: Real Madrid warned over Kylian Mbappe transfer 'joke'
Mbappe was recently excluded from first-team activities, missing the club's pre-season trip to Asia and watching on from the bench as they drew 0-0 with Lorient last Saturday with the club firmly in the belief that he had an agreement in place to join Real Madrid on a free at the end of the season.
Whilst a move to Madrid can't be ruled out for the star striker, the fact Neymar - who reportedly nicknamed him 'Donatello' for his supposed likeness to the Ninja Turtle when they were first at the club - can't have hurt PSG's chances of keeping Mbappe.
Reports that Neymar has become the best-paid player in the world are wide of the mark, meanwhile, although he has overtaken Mbappe with his €100m-a-year deal, with the Frenchman on €70m.
