FIGHT CLUB
NEYMAR stormed out of Barcelona training yesterday after a fight with new signing Nelson Semedo. The Brazilian superstar has been linked with a worldrecord £196million move to Paris Saint-Germain and his walkout now looks to have made that move even more likely. After the forward scored during a training game, he and right back Semedo then tangled in a challenge for the ball, with the striker squaring up to the new arrival from Benfica. Javier Mascherano intervened and Semedo ran back to the game, but Neymar called and gestured after the defender, and had to be restrained by Sergio Busquets. The furious striker then tore off his training bib and threw it to the ground as manager Ernesto Valverde stood close by. Neymar angrily fired a ball off the crossbar of a nearby goal, and booted another ball away as he left the field. Accompanied by a member of the Barcelona staff, he then went out into the car park and left the training area entirely. The session took place in Miami, with Barca in the US as part of their pre-season tour. Neymar has been in excellent form on the tour, scoring three goals in two games, but lost his cool half an hour into the training session at Barry University. The sticking point in the potential transfer to PSG is that the French side want to avoid paying the £196m transfer fee in one lump sum — they would have to pay the £196m to Neymar for him to then deposit the sum with the Spanish league to free him from his contract. This type of payment could lead to a dispute with the French taxman, who could class the passing of the money by PSG to Neymar as taxable income. But if PSG can persuade Barcelona to treat the deal as an orthodox transfer they will avoid tax complications and pay the money in stages.