Neymar court date over Barcelona's non-payment of loyalty bonus delayed

Published on: 29 January 2019

Steve Nicol and the FC crew discuss how Neymar's "showboating" style brings an extra level of physicality from defenders, leading to his recurring injuries.

Lionel Messi scored for the seventh-straight La Liga match as Barcelona defeated 10-man Girona 2-0.

A second half surge turned an early stalemate into a complete thrashing, as PSG secured three points at Le Parc des Princes.

A court case between Barcelona and Neymar, originally due to start this week, has been delayed until March 21, a Catalan court has announced.

Neymar has taken his former club to court regarding the non-payment of a loyalty bonus. The Brazilian was due a fee of around €26 million on July 31, 2017, just four days before his world-record move to Paris Saint-Germain for €222m was made official.

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Barcelona refused to make the payment, however, depositing the money with a notary at first as they awaited the outcome of the forward's switch to PSG, arguing that "the agreed conditions [had] not been met."

The Spanish club subsequently sued Neymar for breach of contract, claiming they're also owed money which the player was paid as the first part of his bonus when he signed a new deal at Camp Nou in 2016.

In addition to €8.5m in damages plus interest, Barcelona are demanding around €75m. The case was due to be heard this week but proceedings have been put back two months.

Neymar is sidelined with a metatarsal injury for the second season running and will miss the first leg of PSG's Champions League round-of-16 tie against Manchester United on Feb. 12.

There are even fears he will be out for several months, sources have told ESPN FC, with surgery not being ruled out to fix the problem.

Source: espn.co.uk

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