Barcelona spent much of the summer trying to bring Neymar back to the club two years after he left to join Paris St Germain but on Friday the Brazilian will come up against his old club in the courtroom to settle a bitter legal dispute, ESPN reports.
Neymar, 27, was pictured arriving at Barcelona’s El Prat airport on Thursday ahead of his date in court, where he is suing the La Liga champions over an unpaid loyalty bonus of 26 million euros 26 million euros (£23 million).
Barca, meanwhile, are suing the forward for 8.5 million euros in damages and demanding he reimburses the club for part of the loyalty bonus they paid him in November 2016.
They have said that by joining PSG less than a year after penning a contract which tied him to the club until 2021, Neymar failed to comply with its terms.
Neymar missed PSG’s first five games of this season as he tried to force through a move back to Barcelona. His former club made repeated trips to the French capital to negotiate a deal, but PSG said the Catalans had failed to meet their asking price.
Neymar has since returned to action for the Ligue 1 champions, scoring in 1-0 wins over Strasbourg and Olympique Lyonnais and playing in Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat by Stade Reims.
Lawyers representing Barcelona and Neymar will meet in court on Friday in the end after a late U-turn in negotiations to settle a dispute over an unpaid loyalty bonus.
Sources had told ESPN FC that both parties would ask for the case to be delayed following a meeting between Neymar, his father and Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu in the Catalan city on Thursday.
The meeting followed days of discussions between Barca representatives and Neymar's lawyers and sources said there was a positive outcome, with Neymar flying back to Paris on Friday morning.
There was no universal agreement on how to settle the case, but there was a desire for every
thing to be resolved in a friendly manner. Talks were expected to continue between the two parties with the hope of reaching a resolution without the need to appear in court, but sources have told ESPN FC there was a late twist when Barca refused to accept various demands put on the table at the eleventh hour by Neymar's representatives.
The Spanish champions and Neymar are in dispute regarding a payment related to the contract he signed with the club in 2016.
He was paid an initial €14 million when he penned the terms but was due an additional €26m on July 31, 2017, just four days before his world-record €222m transfer to Paris Saint-Germain was made official.
Barcelona refused to make the payment, though, depositing the money with a notary at first as they awaited the outcome of the forward's switch to PSG, arguing that "the agreed conditions [had] not been met."
Barca subsequently sued Neymar for breach of contract, claiming they are also owed money which the player was paid as the first part of his bonus when he signed a new deal at Camp Nou in 2016. They are also claiming €8.5 in damages plus interest.
The case was originally due to be heard in January, but was postponed until March and then until September before this latest delay. During that time, the relationship between Barcelona and Neymar, which deteriorated when he quit for PSG, has improved. The Blaugrana even tried to re-sign him this summer, but failed to come to an agreement with the French champions over a deal.
Neymar had told PSG that he wanted to leave and that his desire was to return to Barcelona, where he previously spent four years between 2013 and 2017 after joining from Santos.
Barcelona will appeal the €300 fine handed down by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) over alleged irregularities regarding the transfer of Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid, sources have said.
The competition committee of the RFEF ruled on Thursday that Barcelona were guilty of a "minor infringement" of article 126 of the disciplinary code when negotiating the signing of Griezmann in the summer.
It ruled out giving Barcelona a one-match stadium ban and cleared Griezmann of any wrongdoing. Atletico reported Barcelona and Griezmann to the Spanish FA for negotiating with the France international while he was still under contract.
However, sources have revealed that Barcelona have denied any wrongdoing. They do not believe there is any proof and suggest paying the fine would be an admission of guilt -- and will therefore appeal the decision.
Atletico, meanwhile, told the media that it doesn't merit a comment. The club's legal services will continue to work to defend its interests. Barcelona announced the signing of Griezmann in July for €120 million but Atletico complained that the Catalan club had not paid enough to trigger the player's buy-out clause.
The clause had dropped from €200m to €120m on July 1, but Atletico claim that Griezmann's May 14 announcement that he was leaving the club is proof a deal was struck between the player and Barcelona earlier.
However, the judge considered Barcelona only started negotiating with Griezmann after the player's announcement. Atletico have 10 days to make their appeal.
