Barcelona’s deal for Neymar could end up costing the club as much as €158 million, reports MARCA.
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A court case investigating the Catalan giants’ alleged tax irregularities is currently underway. Should the prosecutors win, Neymar’s price could rise to the stratospheric €158m sum – an especially amazing total given the player was originally announced to have been signed for just €17.1 million from Santos.
A €40 million payment to the Brazilian’s father has already been revealed, and contracts with the father’s companies for “suspicious services” are also being investigated. An agreement with Santos for first refusal on three players is also under suspicion. The Spanish tax authorities have also forced the Catalan club to pay €13.5 million.
This all adds up, potentially taking the price past the current world record fee of £86 million that was paid to Tottenham for Gareth Bale from Real Madrid according to the Daily Telegraph.