Barcelona President Blasts Neymar and PSG as He Insists the Brazilian Is 'History'

Despite Neymar's record transfer capturing the attention of the whole footballing world, Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu insists the club will move forward, leaving the Brazilian winger in Barcelona's past, according to AS.

Bartomeu, a Spanish entrepreneur, has criticised the way Neymar left Catalonia this summer. He took the time to compare the Brazilian to his former teammate Lionel Messi, insinuating that Neymar was disloyal to Barcelona: "[Messi] is an example of loyalty and we look for players like that, with loyalty."

"Before [speaking about the future], we want to close off a chapter from the past," Bartomeu said at the annual supporters' club congress. "Neymar has formed part of our club, but he is now history. It's his decision, despite the fact we did everything in our power for him to stay.

"We always acted responsibly and while we do not share his decision, we do respect it - although that's not to say we don't defend our own interests.

"Everything has its limit and no player is above Barca. [Neymar's] way of doing things was not the best. It wasn't befitting a Barcelona player."

The Barcelona president went on to discuss how the club would reinvest the €222m they received from Paris Saint-Germain.

"We anticipated that Neymar could leave and that's why we increased his clause," Bartomeu continued. "Whatever happened would have been good for Barca. If he stayed, we'd have been left with a great player and if he left we'd have got a great amount of money.

"With the money, we can now make signings, although we will administer the €222m with common sense. We will invest it in players and assets - it won't all go on signings.

"We will bring in players. The first was [Nélson] Semedo, but of course, more will come. This year it won't be about the trident [Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez], we will be talking about the team."

Despite completing his world record transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, Neymar was unable to make his debut for the Parisians when Amiens SC visited the Parc des Princes on Saturday. The Brazilian international was paraded around the stadium prior to kick-off and PSG comfortable claimed a 2-0 victory.