“Wanted him to stay” – Father of former Barcelona superstar makes shock transfer admission

In a recent interview, Neymar’s father, Neymar Pai has made an interesting admission over his son’s transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.

Neymar joined PSG in the summer of 2017, in a deal worth €222 million, which to date remains the most expensive transfer in the history of football.

At the time, it was thought that Neymar was leaving in order to escape the shadow of Lionel Messi and make a name for himself at PSG.

Neymar’s father on PSG move

However, it appears not everyone was on board with Neymar’s decision to join PSG and one of them who was against the move was his father.

“The board [in 2017] made things difficult. I really wanted my son to stay in Barcelona, really. It was until the last few days we did everything for him not to leave, and he left,” he said (h/t Reshad Rahman).

Explaining Neymar’s decision to join PSG, he stated that the forward did not want to step into the shoes of Messi, so to speak.

“He didn’t want to put himself in the position of Barcelona’s biggest star. And he decided: ‘I’m going to my corner’,” he added.

Neymar played for PSG for six years, before leaving in 2023. During his time at Parc des Princes, he was linked with a return to Barcelona on multiple occasions.

Explaining Neymar’s decision further, his father added, “The board said some things as if it was for him to occupy a vacancy that he didn’t want.

“He didn’t want to take Messi’s place, he didn’t want to be the guy: ‘I don’t want any of that, I’m going to my corner, I’m going somewhere else’ is what he said‘.”

Neymar is currently plying his trade for Al Hilal, though his contract at the Saudi outfit expires at the end of the season.