Report Claims Barcelona Twitter Snub Helped Push Neymar Towards Paris Saint-Germain Move
Neymar finally completed his record-smashing transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday night after a drawn out and bitter process.
La Liga and Barcelona have both threatened to report the deal to UEFA over allegations of PSG breaching financial fair play, while the saga also included a training ground bust up between Neymar and Nelson Semedo and a public campaign from Barça stars including Gerard Pique in order to encourage the 25-year-old Brazilian to stay at Camp Nou.
However, despite the seemingly endless speculation and controversy, Neymar is now a PSG player and the Sun claims that Neymar's move was motivated by his dissatisfaction at being in the shadow of Lionel Messi in Catalonia.
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One potential tipping point, the report claims, came following the extraordinary Champions League round of 16 tie between Neymar's new club and Barcelona.
The 2015 Champions League winners famously turned round a 4-0 first leg deficit, winning the second leg 6-1. Neymar scored twice and was widely heralded as the star performer on one of Barcelona's most famous European nights.
However, the club's Twitter account seemingly overlooked the Brazilian's contribution and instead a picture of Lionel Messi online to celebrate the victory rather than of Neymar. It is unclear exactly how much impact this had on Neymar, but it is cited as a clear example of Neymar's unhappiness at living in his teammate's shadow.
The Brazilian star spent four years at Camp Nou having signed from Santos. He scored 105 goals in 186 games in all competitions winning a number of major honours. He won two La Liga titles, three Copas Del Rey and the Champions League in 2015, where he scored in the 3-1 final win against Juventus.
His near-£200m move to the French capital makes him easily the most expensive player ever, with his transfer fee more than double the previous record set by Paul Pogba's switch to Manchester United in the summer of 2016.
