<
>

'Neymar signing could cost €169.9m'

Barcelona could end up paying a total of 169.9 million euros for the signing of Neymar, according to AS.

On Tuesday, Spain's tax office submitted its report to High Court judge Pablo Ruz, concluding that Barca committed tax fraud totalling 9.1 million euros.

AS.com reports that Barca now face a potential fine of up to 54.6 million euros, which would come on top of the following payments: federative rights (17 million euros), compensation (40 million euros), bonus (10 million euros), commission paid to Neymar's father (2.7 million euros), Ballon d'Or (2 million euros), sponsors (4 million euros), social projects (2.5 million euros), first refusal on Santos players (7.9 million euros), scouting in Brazil (2 million euros), friendly match (4.5 million euros), voluntary tax payment (13.5 million euros) and unpaid tax (9.1 million euros).

Former Barca president Sandro Rosell has been summoned to appear at the High Court.

On Jan. 20, three days before his resignation, he had appeared at Barca's Auditorium 1899 facility to present the club's project for the remodelling of the Camp Nou but spurned any questions on the Neymar case, which on that same morning the High Court had agreed to hear.

At the time, Rosell said: "Neymar cost 57.1 million, full stop. We've spoken about this issue quite enough."

The then-Barcelona president challenged Ruz to summon him to testify; he has now received that summons and will appear on June 13, along with Barca director general Antoni Rossich, who will act as a representative for the club.

The day after Rosell left Barcelona, with Josep Maria Bartomeu installed as his replacement, the official figures changed, AS said. While Rosell had insisted the deal totalled 57.1 million euros, the club then announced that the actual cost had been 86.2 million euros. Barca's director for football management, Raul Sanllehi, then announced that the numbers had been "put together carefully."

For the moment, the High Court has set aside five days in which to extend the case to other individuals.