Neymar Sr. on his son's contract renewal, the Mestalla bottle & Messi

Neymar’s father was interviewed on Cadena COPE and spoke about a range of subjects. Logically his son’s recent 2021 contract renewal and the bottle throwing incident at Valencia were on the agenda. 

On what happened at Mestalla, he said: “The players exploded with joy after winning. The attacks came from the fans, who they insulted. In football there are provocations on both sides, it’s part of the game. Yes, it’s normal. Fans, players… it’s a normal thing. We’re used to it. Neymar is relaxed and, above all, happy about a win in such a tough game.”

Moving on to Neymar’s new contract, he commented: “Neymar is happy after signing his renewal. He chose to play in Spain as a kid and Barcelona was the club he chose. The deal [to renew] was practically done in December. There was a verbal agreement and we were waiting for July to sign it because there were things which needed to be ironed out and changed to not create any problems. We were always calm. People like to talk about Neymar, about transfers, rumours… there are always things to talk about and that’s been the case since Santos." 

As for PSG’s interest: “If anyone wants Neymar they have to make an offer to Barcelona to buy him. If Barça say ‘Neymar is not leaving’ and Neymar wants to [leave], the release clause has to be paid, which [was] 190 million euros, plus taxes. In total [with the salary] it was almost 430 million euros. I’m Neymar’s father and his business owner, but it’s difficult to think of him as a business. Sometimes I have to think of him as my son and about his happiness. And he’s happy here.” 

Neymar Sr. also spoke about Lionel Messi: “We’re Messi, we’re Barcelona. We are in the world of Messi. We all know who Leo is and what he means. Messi’s first. He’s an idol for Neymar. He plays next to him and makes Neymar play incredibly. At home, he’s always excited about what Messi transmits to him on the pitch, in games, training… they’re friends. If Messi and Cristiano didn’t exist, maybe Neymar wouldn’t exist. And perhaps without Pele and Maradona, there would be no Cristiano and Messi.” 

And on Neymar’s way of playing? “Little by little people are understanding the way he plays is not an offence. He plays like that and a lot of people respect his way of playing. He’s won a lot like that. If Neymar sees he’s going to be on the end of a big challenge, he avoids it. He’s an expert at that. It’s better to lose playing that play, that game, than to be out for seven or eight months.”