TheCable

Paris Saint Germain have completed a world record £199 million signing of Brazilian superstar Neymar from Barcelona.

The French champions were able to seal the deal after paying the humongous release clause, which was more than double the previous transfer world record.

Neymar has been offered a basic salary of £26.8m (€30m) per year after tax, which is around £515,000 weekly.

“Since I arrived in Europe, the club has always been one of the most competitive and most ambitious,” Neymar said in a statement.

“I am extremely happy to join Paris Saint-Germain.

“And the biggest challenge, what most motivated me to join my new teammates, is to help the club to conquer the titles that their fans want.

“Paris Saint-Germain’s ambition attracted me to the club, along with the passion and the energy this brings. I played four seasons in Europe and I feel ready to take the challenge.

“From today, I will do everything I can to help my new teamates, to open up new horizons for my club and to bring happiness to its millions of supporters around the world.”

The club confirmed that Neymar will take the No.10 shirt from Javier Pastore.

Nasser Al-Khelaifi, PSG president, praised Neymar’s winning mentality, strength of character and sense of leadership, attributes which he says “have made him into a great player”.

“It is with immense joy and pride that we welcome Neymar Jr to Paris Saint-Germain, Neymar Jr is today one of the very best players in world football,” he said.

“He will bring a very positive energy to this club. In six years, we have built a very ambitious project that has already taken us to the highest level of national and European football.

“Today, with the arrival of Neymar Jr, I am convinced that we will come even closer, with the support of our faithful fans, to realizing our greatest dreams.”