Barcelona winger Neymar. (Photo : Getty Images)
Brazilian winger Neymar has agreed to extend his stay with La Liga champions FC Barcelona after turning down a mega offer from Ligue 1 winners Paris Saint-Germain.
Goal reported that the 24-year-old Brazil national team skipper "has turned down a big money move to Paris Saint-Germain to sign an improved and extended contract at Barcelona that will keep him at the club until 2022".
The new contract is said to be lower than what PSG offered, but it made Neymar the second highest-paid player at the Nou Camp after five-time Ballon d'Or awardee Lionel Messi.
Les Parisiens had been rumored to be interested in Neymar for the past few months even as the Catalonia giants increased the Brazilian's release clause to a whopping €220 million in an effort to keep away potential suitors.
While it was not officially known whether PSG actually offered to pay the said buyout clause, the bid was said to be significant enough to try and sway Neymar to their side.
However, the 5-foot-9 Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil native still chose to remain at Camp Nou and continue to play alongside two of the best forwards in the game today, Messi and Luis Suárez, as per Caught Offside.
Meanwhile, Sport English revealed that the Parc des Princes residents offered Neymar a compensation package that will make him the highest-paid player in the world as they also made a bid of €190 million to Barça for the Brazilian, a slightly lower amount than what the Spanish club presently required.
If it pushed through, the amount would almost double the current transfer record set during Real Madrid's signing of Gareth Bale from the Tottenham Hotspur for €100.8 million in 2013.
Neymar began his senior career with domestic club Santos FC in 2009. He played with the Brazilian Serie A squad for five seasons before he was acquired by Barcelona in the summer of 2013 for an undisclosed transfer fee speculated to be €57.1 million.
Neymar is one-third of head coach Luis Enrique's three-pronged attacking front called "MSN", which stands for Messi- Suárez-Neymar. In three seasons so far with Barça, the winger scored 84 times in 140 appearances in all competitions.
This season, he netted 24 goals in 34 domestic games for Barcelona, the fourth-best in the Spanish top flight after Suárez, Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, and Messi.
