Neymar told Barcelona team-mates he was joining PSG while at Lionel Messi's wedding

Former Barcelona captain Xavi has revealed that Neymar informed team-mates he would be leaving for PSG in June, while they were gathered at Lionel Messi's wedding.

Neymar was the star of a transfer saga which dragged on throughout the summer with PSG breaking the world transfer record to sign him, starting a domino effect around Europe which caused player valuations to skyrocket, in a world where Harry Maguire is already worth £17 million. 

Speaking of things that cost too much, it was during a wedding that Neymar chose to announce his decision to leave Barcelona, as Xavi told the BBC's World Football Show:

"(Neymar) said to us at Messi's wedding that he wanted to change club. I said to him 'but why'? He said 'I am not happy in Barcelona. I prefer to leave to have a new experience in Europe at PSG' and finally he did.

"It was his decision, we must respect it."

Barcelona were angered when PSG met Neymar's release clause, losing the Brazilian for a world record £198million.

That Neymar had already set his heart on a move makes the transfer that much more interesting. Barcelona hastily paid £135.5million for young French forward Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund in an attempt to address the absence of talent in their front three, and spent many summer days trying to unsuccessfully sign Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho. 

PSG also controversially signed Kylian Mbappe for £165million as the Qatar-backed club put money behind their plan to create a new version of Barcelona's famous MSN attacking trio. It has not been revealed which fellow footballer's wedding Mbappe decided to upstage by announcing his decision to leave Monaco. 

Neymar has been in sensational form since his switch to Ligue 1, scoring nine goals in 10 games while his replacement, Dembele, started well before suffering a hamstring injury which could keep him out until late November.