Neymar has completed his remarkable £198million world record transfer to Paris Saint Germain, and has vowed to do all he can to bring the major titles to the club.
In what will unquestionably be the transfer story of the summer, the Brazil international informed Barcelona of his wishes to leave the club earlier this week when it emerged PSG had met his buyout clause. And although the Spaniards initially tried to block the move, they were ultimately powerless to do so.
Neymar, who will reportedly earn almost £41million-per-year during his five-year contract in the French capital, completed his switch to the Ligue 1 club on Thursday. And he wasted little time in revealing the ambition of his new club reflected his own, as he targets the biggest prizes in the game.
“I am extremely happy to join Paris Saint-Germain,” he said. “Since I arrived in Europe, the club has always been one of the most competitive and most ambitious. And the biggest challenge, what most motivated me to join my new team-mates, is to help the club to conquer the titles that their fans want.
“PSG’s ambition attracted me to the club, along with the passion and the energy this brings. I have played four seasons in Europe and I feel ready to take the challenge. I will do everything I can to help my new team-mates, to open up new horizons for my club and to bring happiness to its millions of supporters.”
Formed as recently as 1970, PSG won their first league title in 1986 and have since won it a further five times, including four years in succession from 2013 to 2016. Winners of the now defunct UEFA European Cup-Winners Cup in 1996, their primary objective is to now win the UEFA Champions League.
This is a competition in which they reached the quarter-final four times from 2013 to 2016, but have only ever reached the last four on one occasion way back in 1995. It is also a competition Neymar knows well, having held the trophy aloft in 2015 when he scored in Barcelona’s 3-1 win against Juventus.
