NEYMAR’S NET ASSET
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) fans cheer after the arrival of Brazilian soccer star Neymar who was attending a press conference at the Parc des Princes in Paris yesterday. Neymar arrived in the French capital the day after he became the most expensive player in soccer history when completing his blockbuster transfer to PSG from Barcelona for £198 million ($262m).
ARSENE Wenger has claimed the proposed €222 million transfer of Brazilian superstar Neymar from Barcelona to PSG is “beyond rationality”.
The Arsenal manager was asked about the record-breaking deal before it was confirmed yesterday as he spoke before tomorrow’s Community Shield meeting with Chelsea at Wembley.
Wenger said: “For me, it is the consequence of the ownerships that have completely changed the whole landscape of football in the last 15 years.
“Once a country owns a club, everything is possible.
“It becomes very difficult to respect the financial fair play.
“Now you can have different ways or different interests which allow a club to represent a country and attract such a big player to come to them.
“That is why I always supported football living with its own resources.
“The numbers are now comparable to the NBA basketball. They are out of context with society. It is beyond rationality.
“It also looks like the inflation is accelerating. We crossed the €100m (Paul Pogba) line last year and only one year later we are crossing the € 200m line.
“When you think that Trevor Francis was the first £1m player (in 1979) and that looked unreasonable, that shows you how much distance and how far we have come, how big football has become.”
Arsenal held an opening training session at the Emirates stadium yesterday. Striker Alexis Sanchez trained after recovering from flu, but Mesut Oezil worked only lightly and away from the main group after complaining of a sore ankle.
Sanchez has not signed a new contract at Arsenal and is the subject of interest from Manchester City. But Wenger claimed he would not be allowed to leave.
“My decision is clear,” he said. “He will stay. He will respect that. I don’t want to say too much.
“We live in a world of transparency and we have to respect that as much as we can.
“We know as well that we have a duty to inform people, but to talk about some things is not information any more – it is suicide.”
Wenger will start the season under pressure after missing out on the top four in the Premier League last season. But Arsenal did beat champions Chelsea in the FA Cup final to set up tomorrow’s season opener.
Wenger said: “Chelsea again will challenge for the title. I would love to have been in the Champions League, but the Premier League has taken over from it in terms of public interest.”