Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino has stated that the summer signing Neymar has certainly suffered from a dip in form because of the controversy surrounding his transfer. Neymar was brought to the club for a reported £ 48.5 million. This was the transfer fee revealed by Barcelona, but a complaint filed by one of the club members brought out a scam that reveals that the actual transfer fee may be in excess of £ 86 million. The whole value of the transfer when the salary of the player is taken into account crosses £ 110 million, thus making him the most expensive player in the world.
Barcelona were in danger of being filed for tax fraud before the club decided to make a payment of more than 10 million euros to the Spanish tax authorities. Prior to the revelation, Neymar was one of Barcelona’s best players this season. He was unable to match the record of Lionel Messi, but considering that this is his first season in European football, a return of 12 goals in 32 matches was extremely good for the Brazilian striker. Martino, though, says that the record would have been even better had it not been for the controversy, which seems to have affected the 21-year-old.
“If I had to give an explanation for [his form] then I would say it is to do with that. In his best moments he has played on the left or as a centre-forward and the other day he was on the right, where I also thought he did well. When a player has been out injured a month it is not easy to get back to their best form straight away. It is not like a day, or three days but a month,” said Martino. Barcelona president Sandro Rosell resigned due to his involvement in the case.