Neymar’s £198m move to PSG: Family fortunes as parents pocket £62million and he agrees his £500k-a-week wage after tax
Ace's family will have just as much to celebrate as they own a share in the rights to their lucrative son
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WHEN superstar striker Neymar puts his pen to the biggest deal in football history, his family will have just as much to celebrate.
The Brazilian’s switch from Barcelona to Paris St Germain will cost a world record £198million and see his weekly wage increase from £215,000 to an incredible £500,000.
And it is his family who will benefit. The 25-year-old’s parents own a share in the rights to their lucrative son, whose move to France is set to earn them a reported £62million.
Accusations have been flying that it is his father Neymar Santos Sr who has been angling for the transfer, which will smash the £89million Manchester United paid for Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba last year.
The deal will also give the player more money to lavish on his sister, Rafaella Beckran, whose relationship with Neymar is a little offside.
The devoted siblings have tattoos of each other. Neymar’s inkings show his sister’s face on the top of his right arm and he has the Italian word for sister — sorella — on his left.
Rafaella has his eyes tattooed on her back and “fratello” — brother — on her left shoulder.
Talking about his tattoo of Rafaella, Neymar — who also has inkings of his mum’s face and his dad’s eyes — said his sister was “in my skin” and added on Instagram: “I love too much.”
Rafaella, 21, has shared several snaps of herself cuddling up with Brazil’s star forward.
She posted a photo of them together to her 3.3million Instagram followers, with the message: “My heart is yours, my love is yours, my smile is yours, my day, my night, my longing, my best company.”
‘Dad is the boss – he looks after my money’
She once wrote: “Oh, my love, I’m here from the other side of the world with my heart full of love wanting to hug you and imagining the size of your smile where it is.”
In another post she told him: “My love for you is unique.”
Busty Rafaella, who is dating Inter Milan’s Brazilian forward Gabriel Barbosa, 20, has modelled for her brother’s fashion line, Elleven Wear, named after his shirt number.
She also made a cameo appearance in his TV advert for Beats headphones.
Some fans noted that for the past two seasons he missed games on March 11, Rafaella’s birthday. This year he was sidelined by injury and he was suspended in 2016.
Pulling the strings behind the mega deal is the striker’s dad.
As Neymar Jr has said: “He takes care of things, my finances and my family. He is the one who is in charge. He’s the boss.”
It did not take long for Neymar Sr to realise that his son could be the family’s ticket out of the rough streets of Praia Grande, near Sao Paulo, in Brazil, where they lived next to a rubbish dump.
His once said: “The first contract I made with Neymar was when he was 12 years old. At that moment I believe I glimpsed he was going to pursue a football career, even if that contract was just for athlete training.”
At the age of 19, while playing for Brazilian side Santos, deals were being made for the future transfer of the sought-after talent — which has now led to Neymar and his parents facing trial on corruption charges.
An investment company called DIS secured 40 per cent ownership of the player, while Neymar’s mum and dad took control by becoming the majority shareholders in another firm which owned their son’s rights.
They earned £9million in 2011 just for convincing their son to sign a pre-contract with Barcelona then another £36million when he signed for the Spanish giants for £47million two years later.
But DIS claim it is owed millions because it was misled about the true value of the deal to take Neymar to Spain, and have called for him to be jailed.
Owner Delcir Sonda accused Neymar Sr of being a “vagabond, who had become rich overnight due to the success of his son”.
The family denies any wrongdoing, although it is highly unlikely the adored footballer will go to prison if the case were ever lost.
It is not the only financial scandal to engulf the family. Neymar was last year fined £36million in back taxes, interest and fines for not properly reporting his earnings.
He enjoys his money. Aged 20 he bought a 78ft yacht which he named Nadine, after his mum, for £10million, and in 2015 spent £7million on a jet, with his initials NJR on the tail.
Both were seized by Brazilian courts during the tax investigation. The authorities also took a number of his properties.
He has an £18million car collection which includes an Audi R8, Ferrari 458 Spider and Porsche Panamera.
The playboy footballer is often spotted at flash nightclubs and in exotic holiday resorts in the company of beautiful women.
His exes include Playboy model Soraja Vucelic, actress Gabriella Lenzi and, most recently, Brazilian soap star Bruna Marquezine.
When he was 19 Neymar became a father to a son, Davi Lucca, whose mother Carolina Dantas was just 17.
Lucca has his own Instagram page and is often photographed with his dad.
Carolina has said: “Neymar and me are trying to be friends, to talk and make Lucca’s life easier”.
A devoted Christian, Neymar has sported a headband with the words “100 per cent Jesus” and once said:
“Life only makes sense when our highest ideal is to serve Christ.”
When speculation grew about his departure from Barcelona, Neymar took to Instagram to post a passage from the New Testament, saying: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”
For a man who regularly donates to a church in his home town, such religious beliefs seem at odds with his love for fame and money.
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Neymar’s pals include Paris Hilton, he was on the cover of Vogue with supermodel Gisele Bundchen, made a cameo in Vin Diesel’s latest xXx film and appeared in an advert with Nicki Minaj.
Brands including Nike, Gillette, Panasonic and Beats by Dre pay millions to receive his endorsement.
In 2013 he was named the most marketable athlete in the world — pipping team-mate Lionel Messi — and has to date made £17million from advertising deals.
Despite his 105 goals for Barcelona, which helped them to two La Liga titles, three Copa del Rey’s and a Champions League crown, it is his star power off the pitch which undoubtedly tempted PSG’s wealthy owners to open their wallets.
Other commentators believe Neymar’s transfer is a political move by Qatar’s government to boost an image battered by Saudi Arabia’s trade boycott.
With the Middle Eastern nation hosting the 2022 World Cup, prestige in football is everything.
Brazilian journalist Fernando Duarte said: “Neymar has marketing potential, unlike Lionel Messi, who always looks awkward on camera, and this is very important for Paris St Germain who need a lot of promotion in Qatar.”
Whether PSG are getting more than they bargained for with their new star man remains to be seen.
Byecelona.