Neymar Calls Barcelona's President Bartomeu 'a Joke' in Escalating War of Words
Neymar has hit back at Josep Maria Bartomeu's comments over his Paris Saint-Germain move by branding the Barcelona president "a joke".
Bartomeu was quoted in Marca as he accused the Brazil superstar and his father of being distrustful following Neymar's world-record £200m transfer to PSG.
The forward has since fired back at the under-pressure Bartomeu by replying to the 54-year-old's quote, published in an image on Esporte Interativo's Instagram account, with the brief comment of "this president is a joke":
Neymar's switch to Parc de Princes has proven to be a messy affair that saw both Barcelona and Neymar's representatives slam their opponents over the sensational move.
The latest of those damning verdicts came from Bartomeu, who told Marca that he was silly to expect both the 25-year-old and his father to stick around at Nou Camp despite PSG's interest.
He said: "The first self-criticism we have is that we relied too much on Neymar. He did not act with the right decorum.
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"The error we made was trusting Neymar and his father. I do not know [why he left]. You should ask him. He did not tell us.
"For money? To lead a sporting project? Here, he was at the best club in the world surrounded by many of the best players in the world and without a doubt, that is Messi.
"But I do not know why he did not explain it to us. He paid the clause and left."
Neymar's father - Neymar Santos Senior, who also happens to be his son's agent - claimed that Barcelona lost his support in keeping his son in Catalunya after the club declined to fork over an alleged £26m loyalty bonus.
That figure, which Barca retained as Neymar looked set to complete his move to PSG, was the deciding factor in Neymar Senior greenlighting his son's move to the French capital.
Neymar Snr claimed that Neymar should have been paid as his contract stipulated that the loyalty bonus would be handed over if he was still at the club on 31st July. However, despite the transfer not going through until 3rd August, Barcelona refused to pay up and Neymar departed for pastures new.
