Barcelona confirm they have received £200m payment from PSG for Neymar after La Liga official tried to block move

La Liga officials rejected the bid earlier in the day on Thursday

Barcelona have confirmed that they have received £200m from Neymar's legal representative to release the Brazilian from his contract ahead of an expected record-breaking move to Paris Saint-Germain, just hours after La Liga officials claimed they blocked the French club's approach for the forward.

The league had been vocal in their attempts to block the deal from going through under Uefa’s Financial Fair Play rules, even though they had no grounds or jurisdiction to do block PSG, or anyone else, from triggering the Brazilian’s release clause.

Five men, including Spanish sports lawyer Juan de Dios Crespo, were seen arriving at the La Liga offices on Thursday morning with what was reported to be a bank document confirming the offer that will be made to activate the 25-year-old’s release clause, before leaving the building soon after.

The La Liga president, Javier Tebas, has been adamant the league would block the deal, and La Liga soon confirmed after the group’s departure that they had attempted to do exactly that by rejecting the offer.

“We can confirm that the lawyers of the player (Neymar) have come to La Liga to deposit the clause and that it has been rejected. It is all the information we will give so far,” a La Liga statement read.

But on Thursday evening, Barcelona confirmed they had finally received the money, thus releasing Neymar from his contract.

In a statement, they said: “On Thursday afternoon Neymar Jr's legal representatives visited in person the Club's offices and made the payment of 222 million euros in the player's name with regards to the unilateral termination of the contract that united both parties.

Lawyers representing Neymar arrive at the La Liga offices in Madrid (Marca)

“As such, the Club will pass on to UEFA the details of the above operation so that they can determine the disciplinary responsibilities that may arise from this case.”

While La Liga cannot block the move given it is the activation of a release clause within Neymar’s contract, Barcelona can make an official complaint to Uefa if they feel that an indiscretion has taken place, or Uefa can choose to investigate if they suspect any wrongdoing – although Uefa will not do that until 2018/19.

The attempted block triggered a negative response from the French league [LFP], which threw its support behind PSG and its attempt to sign the former Santos player, adding it looks forward to seeing him ply his trade in Ligue 1.

“The LFP is surprised and does not understand the refusal of the Liga to simply accept the payment of the release clause of Neymar,” a statement read.

“The LFP asks the Liga to abide by the Fifa rules and its responsibilities. The LFP supports Paris Saint-Germain and wishes Neymar to join the Ligue 1 championship.

“The legal services of the LFP are in support and at the disposal of Paris Saint-Germain so that the Neymar contract is approved as soon as possible.”

Uefa issued a statement to confirm that the rules of FFP remain “exceptionally serious” and that it will ensure “all clubs must abide by the rules of FFP or face the consequences”.

Uefa will not inspect PSG’s account until the summer of 2018 at the earliest given that the FFP deadline for this year has already passed on the 17 June. They will therefore inspect the Parisian club’s finances next year in order to ensure that they have not breached the regulation that states that any club under their jurisdiction cannot make losses in excess of €30m [£26.8m] over a three-year period.

If PSG were found guilty of such a rule breach when they are inspected next year, they could face another large fine or be expelled from European competition for a determined length of time.