In 2013, Barcelona decided to buy a skinny Brazilian teenager named Neymar Jr. from Santos FC. This was a very controversial move, as Barcelona paid quite a princely sum for this skinny teenager named Neymar who had never played in Europe but was absolutely ripping up the Brazilian league. And so, there was a lot of speculation whether the Neymar transfer fee was too high. He's since blossomed into one of the best players in the world. Was his fee too high? You be the judge.
Neymar Transfer Fee History: Santos to Barcelona
Initially reported at a lower level (€57.1 million or $64 million), Barcelona were later forced to admit that the transfer fee they paid for Neymar was much higher. Much, much higher. The actual transfer fee as it came out almost a year after Summer 2013? €86.2 million or $96.6 million.
The reprecussions of the Neymar transfer fee scandal were far and wide. In fact, when it came out that FC Barcelona had reportedly paid a full €30 million ($32.6 million) more than initially stated for Neymar, it forced former club president Sandro Rosell to resign.
Spain's tax authorities then forced Barcelona to pay an incremental €13.5 million (or $15.1 million). Add to that the €6.4 million ($7.2 million) Barcelona paid in uncovered contracts to Santos, and you have a whopping €106.1 million ($119 million).
The icing on the cake is that FC Barcelona is reported by Joan Laporta (former president of FC Barcelona) to have paid €122 million ($136.8 million) in legal fees over the entire matter. And that doesn't take into account the additional fines for tax fraud allegedly committed during the signing, which have been reported to be around €51.1 million ($57.3 million).
As a result of all of this, the originally reported €57.1 million ($64 million) Neymar transfer fee may actually end up at €279.2 million ($313 million) for FC Barcelona – certainly the most expensive transfer in the history of football. We break it down in a single visual below.
Neymar Transfer Fee: How It Went From $64 Million To (Potentially) $313 Million
The Neymar transfer fee saga still hasn't concluded, with many millions in tax fraud penalties hanging in the balance.
While Neymar has only been transferred once for money in his career that we can find, man is it a doozy. $313 million is a lot of coin for an unproven teenager. It has worked out so far, because it's obvious Neymar will be one of the best players in the world for years to come.
(Prices courtesy of Transfermarkt and International Business Times. All exchanges using the exchange rate current as of the writing of this article.)
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
