It’s official: Paris Saint-Germain have now processed payment to FC Barcelona, and the Catalan Club have finally accepted the €222 million ($263.5m, £200.6m) sum for Neymar. The Brazilian superstar now becomes the world’s most expensive player, having more than doubled the previous transfer record, which until today belonged to Paul Pogba.
The Manchester United midfielder returned to his old club from Juventus for £89.3 million just last summer.
Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp has given his take on the transaction, saying that hopes the transfer fee is an “exception” and not the rule. The German also questioned whether UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) protocol even has any effect on a given club’s spending power anymore.
“There are clubs who can pay fees like that,Man City and PSG,” Klopp said late last night of the impending Neymar deal. “Everyone knows that. I thought that (Financial) Fair Play was made so that situations like that can’t happen. But that’s more of a suggestion than a real rule. I don’t know and I don’t understand that. I don’t know how it happens.”
“That’s not the next step, I hope. I hope that it will stay an exception, but you don’t know.”
Klopp isn’t the first manager of a big six English Premier League club to call out the ramped up spending in this summer’s transfer market. Nine days ago, Manchester United Manager Jose Mourinho ripped the price inflation in the transfer market, describing the situation as “very strange” and “out of control.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger also stated his belief that the prices being paid for players this summer is exorbitant.
In the coming days, more prominent football figures will certainly speak out about how ridiculous the money paid for Neymar is.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube.