Neymar played "cat-and-mouse" with Barcelona during the close-season before his move to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Barcelona vice-president Jordi Mestre has said.
PSG paid €222 million (US$277 million) to trigger the buyout clause in the Brazil forward's Barcelona contract last August, making him the most expensive signing in soccee history.
Barcelona had believed Neymar was going to stay at the club, with Mestre stating he was 200 percent sure the Brazilian would be at the Nou Camp this season.
"What hurt me the most was the way it happened," Mestre told newspaper Diario Sport in an interview.
"We were all on tour talking with him and his father, and they were not transparent.
”If he came to us and said, I want to go, like Cesc (Fabregas), Pedro, Alexis (Sanchez), and (Javier) Mascherano did, we would have reached an agreement. What you can't do is rock the boat.
"He played cat-and-mouse with us. It arrived at a point where we say where things were going so we told him we would not pay his contract renewal loyalty fee."
Neymar and his representative did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
Neymar renewed his deal with Barcelona in July 2016, which meant he was owed a €26 million renewal bonus.
Barcelona did not pay it and deposited the money with a notary. FIFA, world soccer's governing body, is investigating an official complaint from the forward regarding the matter. Mestre said Neymar's behavior caused inflation in the transfer market.
Reuters
Barcelona
PSG paid €222 million (US$277 million) to trigger the buyout clause in the Brazil forward's Barcelona contract last August, making him the most expensive signing in soccee history.
Barcelona had believed Neymar was going to stay at the club, with Mestre stating he was 200 percent sure the Brazilian would be at the Nou Camp this season.
"What hurt me the most was the way it happened," Mestre told newspaper Diario Sport in an interview.
"We were all on tour talking with him and his father, and they were not transparent.
”If he came to us and said, I want to go, like Cesc (Fabregas), Pedro, Alexis (Sanchez), and (Javier) Mascherano did, we would have reached an agreement. What you can't do is rock the boat.
"He played cat-and-mouse with us. It arrived at a point where we say where things were going so we told him we would not pay his contract renewal loyalty fee."
Neymar and his representative did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
Neymar renewed his deal with Barcelona in July 2016, which meant he was owed a €26 million renewal bonus.
Barcelona did not pay it and deposited the money with a notary. FIFA, world soccer's governing body, is investigating an official complaint from the forward regarding the matter. Mestre said Neymar's behavior caused inflation in the transfer market.
Reuters
Barcelona
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