Neymar deal ‘beyond rationality’, says Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger

London, August 3 (AFP): Neymar’s imminent mega-transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain is “beyond calculation and rationality”, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said on Thursday.
In a reference to PSG’s super-rich Qatari backers, Wenger said the 222 million euros ($260 million) deal was a consequence of what happens when “a country owns a club”.
“For me, it is the consequence of the ownerships and that has completely changed the whole landscape of football in the last 15 years,” he told a press conference at the Emirates Stadium.
“Once a country owns a club, everything is possible.
“It becomes very difficult to respect the financial fair play because you can have different ways or different interests for a country to have such a big player to represent a country.
“It can’t justify the investments and looks unusual for the game.”
Wenger said Qatar’s use of football as a vessel for soft diplomacy meant PSG’s owners did not need to worry about whether the transfer represents value for money.
“We are not in a period anymore where you think, in some places: ‘If I invest that, I will get that back.’ We are beyond that,” said the Frenchman.
“The number today involves a lot of passion, pride, public interest and you cannot rationalise that anymore.”
Citing the 1979 transfer from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest of Trevor Francis, who became Britain’s first £1 million ($1.3 million, 1.1 million euros) player, Wenger said fees were now out of control.
“It also looks like the inflation is accelerating,” he said.
“We crossed the 100 million (euros) line last year (when Paul Pogba joined Manchester United from Juventus) and, only one year later, we’re crossing the 200 million line.
“When you think that Trevor Francis was the first £1 million player and that looked unreasonable, it shows you how much distance and how far we have come, how big football has become.
“It’s beyond calculation and beyond rationality.”

Spain’s La Liga rejects payment of Neymar’s $263m buy-out clause
Madrid, August 3 (IANS): The Spanish pro football league La Liga on Thursday rejected the payment of Barcelona star forward Neymar’s buy-out clause.
Four representatives of the Brazilian player, including his lawyer, arrived at La Liga’s headquarters in Madrid with a cheque worth the 222 million euros ($263 million) required to terminate Neymar’s contract with the Catalan club, reports Efe.
“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,” read a La Liga statement to BBC Sport.
The league said it had dismissed the release fee’s payment because it deemed it unlikely that Paris Saint-German, Neymar’s future team, could finance the move without violating UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations.
“It’s financial doping, without a shadow of a doubt,” La Liga head Javier Tebas had said on Wednesday in an interview with Spanish sports daily AS.
Tebas was referring to Qatar’s alleged financial propping-up of PSG, which would allow the Parisian side to unfairly compete with non-state-backed teams.
In Spain, unlike other major leagues, players must deposit their own buy-out clause themselves with La Liga, instead of the purchasing club directly paying the amount. La Liga then transfers the money to the selling team.