Published 14:07 IST, October 31st 2019
Barca's Pique says players offered to lower wages to bring Neymar back
Spain and Barcelona defender, Gerard Pique, stated that the Catalans offered to change their contract in terms of salaries to bring back Neymar to Camp Nou
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Spain and Barcelona defender, Gerard Pique, stated that the other players offered to lower their salaries to bring back Neymar to Camp Nou. Pique said that the players told the club president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, that they could change their contracts due to the financial fair play issue and earn what they used to in the later stages of their contracts. Gerard said that at the end of the day, the players wanted to help Barcelona by going along with what the club had planned in order to avoid the Financial Fair Play problem but a few other problems cropped up because of which the plan to bring Neymar back was cut short.
"We offered to alter our salaries"
He further added that the plan was not to reduce their salaries but it was to derive a formula to make it easier for the club to re-sign Neymar. Responding to a question, the center-back said that there was a huge possibility that Neymar could come back to Barcelona in the future as football was a game where anything could happen.
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A failed attempt
Neymar Jr. had attempted to steer away from Paris Saint-German and come back to Barcelona in the 2019-20 season, just 2 years after he signed on the dotted line with the French club for a world record fee of €222 million. He was able to engineer a move back to Camp Nou due to the Financial Fair play regulations.
A spectacular debut for Neymar
Neymar signed a 5 year deal with Paris Saint-German that had him tied to the club until 2022 as he signed on for a world record fee of €222 million. The forward bagged an annual salary of €30 million alongside wearing the number 10 jersey during his stay at the French club.
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He made his debut for PSG on August 13, 2017, where he scored his first goal in his debut match and provided an assist in a 3-0 victory over Guingamp. He started his life as a PSG player with a bang as he scored 2 more goals in his second league match alongside forming a prolific attacking partnership with Kylian Mbappe and Edison Cavani.
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PSG is perched at the top in Ligue 1 with a total of 27 points out of a possible 33 points. They next play against Dijon FCO on November 2 at the Stade Gaston Gerard stadium.
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Meanwhile, FC Barcelona claimed the first position in the La Liga for the first time this season as they battered Valladolid 5-1 on October 30. They lead second-placed Real Madrid by a point after playing 10 matches. Barcelona next play against Levante on November 2 at the Ciutat de Valencia stadium.
(With inputs from agencies)
12:23 IST, October 31st 2019