Lionel Messi has bid an emotional farewell to teammate Neymar, in what can be seen as a confirmation of his move to French giants Paris Saint Germain. Messi took to Instagram and wrote "It was an enormous pleasure to have shared these years with you Neymar, my friend. I wish you a lot of luck in the next stage of your life. See you." He ended the post by saying TKM, which is short for "te quiero mucho" and it means love you a lot.
Barcelona confirmed Neymar's wish to leave the Catalan giants on Wednesday but insisted the Brazilian's 222 million euro ($260 million) buyout clause must be paid as his potential world record move to Paris Saint-Germain moved a step closer.
"Neymar Jr, accompanied by his father and representative, communicated to FC Barcelona this morning his decision to leave the club," Barca said in a statement. The club has informed them that the buyout clause in his contract that from July 1 is 222 million euros must be paid in full.
Such a fee would smash the current record £89.3 million ($111 million, 105.2 million euros) Manchester United paid for Paul Pogba last year. Neymar has also been given permission to not participate in training after making a brief appearance at Barca's training ground on Wednesday.
Speculation over the 25-year-old's future has dominated the first few weeks of new Barca boss Ernesto Valverde's reign. Neymar arrived back in Barcelona on Tuesday from a fleeting promotional tour to China.He turned up for training at 9 am local time (0700GMT) on Wednesday morning, but left less than an hour later after telling teammates "he is leaving", a Barca spokesperson confirmed.