Neymar to leave Barca; Will PSG foot the enormous bill?

Neymar came to train on Wednesday morning, but only to tell his mates he was leaving them. One question has yet to be answered: has or will PSG pay up the (gigantic) bill?

Brazilian Neymar is set to leave Barcelona. LLUIS GENE / AFP

Brazilian football superstar Neymar’s move to France has been on everyone’s lips for weeks now, since this could potentially be a world record transfer.

Speculation over the 25-year-old's future has dominated the first few weeks of new Barca boss Ernesto Valverde's reign with PSG reportedly willing to pay Neymar's 222 million euro buyout clause.

Such a fee would dwarf- nay, smash - the current 105.2 million euros record Manchester United paid for Paul Pogba last year.

If both clubs don't come to a late agreement, the buyout clause would have to be paid to Barcelona via Spain's La Liga to free the player from the contract he signed last year and runs until 2021.

However, La Liga president Javier Tebas has threatened not to accept PSG's money over what he perceives as a failure on the French side's part to comply with UEFA's financial fair play rules (FFP).

Clubs can be sanctioned by UEFA for making a loss of more than 30 million euros over a three-year period.

"We will not accept this money from a club like PSG," Tebas told Madrid sports daily AS on Wednesday. "Especially when this club is infringing rules and laws."

Could this mean PSG will make it to the big league?

Paris St Germain president Nasser al-Khelaifi was giving little away regarding his club's reported world-record bid to land Barcelona star Neymar - but he admitted he hopes to talk further on the matter in the future.

PSG's owners Oryx Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) have one dream: winning the Champions League for a first time. For this, they’re ready to fund a deal that could herald the start of a new era at the elite level of European football.

PSG have failed to make it beyond the quarter-final stage in recent seasons - most notably blowing a 4-0 first leg lead to lose 6-1 to a Neymar-inspired Barcelona in the last 16 of last season's competition in March.

But taking Neymar away from Barca could truly mean that PSG could (finally) become a contender for the likes of Barca, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich to fear.

Neymar has formed one of the deadliest strike partnerships in football history with five-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez over the past three seasons.

Together they have won two La Liga titles, a Champions League and three Spanish Cups, whilst Neymar has scored 105 goals and provided 80 assists in just 186 games.