No club will pay €222m for Neymar, Barca’s official says

Barcelona technical secretary Robert Fernandez considers it implausible that any club would pay Neymar’s €222million release clause.The Brazil star signed a new five-year contract last June that includes a buy-out clause, which has risen from €200m to €222m and will reach €250m in 12 months’ time.

Neymar was linked with a move away from Camp Nou before his new deal effectively ended speculation over a possible transfer to either Manchester United or Paris Saint-Germain.

However, a report in Sport yesterday claimed the 25-year-old is unsettled in Catalonia and would consider leaving in the transfer window.Robert, though, does not expect any side to be audacious enough to attempt an offer.

When asked if he could imagine Barca without Neymar, he told a news conference: “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”He added: “It’s not our intention to lose players, certainly not good players. We try to improve within the confines of what is possible.

“We’ve not had any offers for any players in our squad.”Robert added that Barca would like to sign a midfielder who can play in three different roles across the centre of the pitch.

Ernesto Valverde’s side have been rebuffed in their attempts to negotiate a deal for PSG’s Marco Verratti but Robert made it clear they will not sign a player of anything less than the highest quality, despite their challenging transfer window so far.

“It’s difficult because we have an amazing team. Whoever comes here has to be a big player,” he said.“A player who can play in all three positions would be amazing, because playing in that position means you’re always fighting for game time so the more positions you can play in, the more opportunities you’ll have.”