Just one regular day of Barclayselona. That’s all I ask
Futbol Club Barcelona, we regret to inform you, are at it again (reportedly, of course).
With Josep Bartomeu gone and talk of Lionel Messi wanting out dying down a little bit, some of us might have expected the club to take on a slightly less soap opera-y feel for at least the next couple of months. Regrettably, this doesn’t appear to be the case.
Following reports that a construction firm have asked for Barca to be placed into bankruptcy over unpaid fees, it’s now being reported that the club are set to sue Neymar after mistakenly overpaying him for part of his time as their player.
According to El Mundo, a tax miscalculation saw Barca overpay the Brazilian to the tune of £9m during his first couple of years on their payroll. The report explains that this came to light after a tax inspection covering the 2015 financial period highlighted the error and that the club are now looking to claim back the money.
The La Liga side have been notified by the Tax Agency that the money will be seen as a ‘donation’ from club to player if the matter is unresolved.
Neymar spent four years at the Camp Nou, becoming the most expensive player in history when he departed for Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.
If Barca do follow through with their reported intentions, it won’t be the first time they have entered into a legal battle with their former player. The 28-year-old was forced to pay the club £5.9m after losing a case in which he claimed the club owed him £38m in unpaid bonuses.
All in all, the news caps a rubbish week for Neymar, who, as well as potentially having to fork out a seven-figure amount of money to his former employers, had his Twitch account shut down after inadvertently leaking Richarlison’s phone number. Hate it when that happens.
