Ridiculous Neymar contract clause revealed as Premier League clubs await Al-Hilal deadline

A staggering €200k clause that was allegedly inserted into Neymar's contract when he was a Paris Saint-Germain player has been revealed, just weeks before Premier League clubs can explore his signing.

In summer 2023, Brazilian great Neymar departed PSG for Saudi Arabia, joining Al-Hilal to earn a reported sum of £250m over the course of two years.

That is not bad going for an attacker who in his debut season due to an ACL injury actually only played five professional football matches. He has since returned from that issue, though has only played twice more before suffering a new hamstring injury.

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As his contract in the Gulf state is due to expire at the end of the 2024/25 season, foreign clubs will be allowed to negotiate with Neymar's representatives for his next transfer in January. If he chooses not to renew before then Al-Hilal face a difficult decision on an £80m player they have had very little return from.

The 32-year-old has previously stated that the four Premier League teams he would be interested in playing for are Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool.

This has sparked interesting conversation for mega-spenders Chelsea and title-challengers Arsenal. However, if either were seriously considering Neymar, they have just received warning of the ridiculous terms he played under at PSG.

Appearing on the Ball Talk podcast, former Crystal Palace academy player Lewis Byron explained: "The maddest [clause] I've heard - and I don't want to name the person but on my UEFA B coaching course, it was through the PFA so it is all either pro footballers, ex-pro footballers or people who are high up in sport.

"There was a person on it who was in PSG's club staff - quite high up - and it was at the time with [Lionel] Messi, Neymar and [Kylian] Mbappe. He said Neymar had a clause in his contract that every time he went over to clap the fans after a game he'd get a couple hundred grand (€) bonus. I swear to God."

In his 173 appearances for the French giants, Neymar scored 118 goals and won 13 trophies. They are plenty of reason to wander over to the fans and cash in this easy cheque.

However, Byron added that this supposed contract clause was included by PSG to benefit themselves, instead of just Neymar making bizarre demands.

"No word of a lie, I don't want to name the person who told me but he said it's because they were so concerned with Neymar having that reputation of not being involved with the club and not being that loved by the fans, they were encouraging him to clap the fans after a game," he explained.

With Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) in place in the Premier League, any potential Neymar suitor would likely struggle to match the sort of salary the Brazilian is currently on - or that previous bonus.