Record transfer to PSG places Brazil icon at forefront of soccer’s latest cash splash

BARCELONA — Neymar could be presented as a Paris Saint-Germain player as early as this weekend after Barcelona admitted defeat in convincing the Brazilian to stay at Camp Nou on Wednesday.

After saying goodbye to his Barca teammates, the 25-year-old forward departed for Porto by private jet, surrounded by an entourage that included his father and agent Neymar Sr and Wagner Ribeiro, an adviser who said PSG would pay the player’s $262 million buyout clause in the “coming hours”.

That would more than double the current transfer record of $111 million set by Paul Pogba’s move to Manchester United last year.

Media reports suggested Neymar had gone to Porto, where PSG sporting director Antero Henrique had worked until recently, to undergo a pre-transfer medical.

Sources told AFP he will arrive in Paris on Thursday afternoon.

Earlier, Barcelona ended weeks of speculation by publicly confirming for the first time the player’s wish to leave after four years at Camp Nou.

“Neymar Jr, accompanied by his father and representative, communicated to FC Barcelona this morning his decision to leave the club,” Barca said in a statement posted on the club’s website.

“The club has informed them that the buyout clause in his contract must be paid in full.”

Neymar has been tempted to Paris by an astronomical offer that would reportedly see his after-tax wages triple to $35 million annually.

However, on the field he also faces the challenge of stepping out of the shadow of five-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi in trying to prove himself the world’s best.

“It was a huge pleasure having shared all those years with you, my friend @neymarjr,” Messi posted on Instagram alongside a montage displaying some of the pair’s finest moments together.

“I wish you lots of luck in this new stage in your life. See you soon tkm,” he added. (‘Tkm’ stands for te quiero mucho or ‘I love you loads’.)

“Thanks brother. I will miss you man,” Neymar replied.

Presuming both clubs don’t come to a late agreement, the buyout clause would have to be paid to Barcelona via Spain’s La Liga to free the player from the contract he signed last year and runs until 2021.

However, La Liga president Javier Tebas has threatened not to accept PSG’s money over what he perceives as a failure on the French side’s part to comply with UEFA’s financial fair play rules (FFP).

Clubs can be sanctioned by UEFA for making a loss of more than $35 million over a three-year period.

“We will not accept this money from a club like PSG,” Tebas told Madrid sports daily AS on Wednesday. “Especially when this club is infringing rules and laws.”

Winning the Champions League for a first time is the dream driving PSG owners Oryx Qatar Sports Investments to fund a deal that could herald the start of a new era at the elite level of European soccer

Since QSI’s takeover in 2011, PSG has failed to advance beyond the quarterfinals — most notably blowing a 4-0 first leg lead to lose 6-1 to Barcelona in the last 16 of last season’s competition in March.

Coaxing Neymar from the grip of Barca would truly announce PSG’s presence as a contender for the likes of Barca, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich to fear.

Neymar has formed one of the deadliest strike partnerships in soccer history with Messi and Luis Suarez over the past three seasons.

Together they have won two La Liga titles, a Champions League and three Spanish Cups, while Neymar has scored 105 goals and provided 80 assists in just 186 games.

However, his four-year spell in Spain has also been overshadowed by the murky transfer deal that brought him to Barcelona from Santos in 2013.

He and his parents as well as Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu face charges of fraud and corruption in an ongoing case brought by DIS, a Brazilian investment company.

DIS owned 40 percent of the player’s rights at the time of the deal and believe they were deliberately cheated out of their real share due to the complex structure of the transfer.

Meanwhile, Brazil fans see Neymar as the key to a sixth World Cup title in Russia next year and the first Brazilian to win the Ballon d’Or since Kaka in 2007.

In a recent poll carried out by Globoesporte.com 75 percent of fans favored his transfer away from Barcelona.

In Brazil, Neymar is an icon, and the transfer has become a national issue.