I Am Ready To Start On Saturday If I Can- Neymar

Neymar will watch from the stands as
Paris Saint Germain open their season
Saturday, but the French club have already
clawed back around a million euros on
their world record investment thanks to
selling a staggering 10,000 shirts bearing
the Brazilian’s name in just one day.



The 25-year-old superstar, signed from
Barcelona for a mind-boggling 222 million
euros ($264 million), will be presented to
the PSG support prior to his new team’s
first game of the Ligue 1 campaign
against promoted Amiens.



A ceremony will begin at 3:45pm (1345
GMT) with the kick-off put back quarter of
an hour to 5:15pm to allow extra time for
the player’s unveiling before an expected
sell-out crowd of more than 45,000 at the
Parc des Princes.


However, Neymar’s
hopes of playing in the match were
dashed when his international transfer
certificate failed to be lodged with the
French league by the midnight deadline
on Friday.



“I am ready to start on Saturday
if I can,” he said before falling victim to
the constraints of paperwork. Despite the
minor setback, Neymar has already started
repaying his mammoth transfer fee. PSG
said that more than 10,000 shirts bearing
his name and his new number No.10
were sold on Friday.



At an average of 100
euros each, PSG generated one million
euros even before he had kicked a ball.



Money was the subject of most of the
questions fired at the Brazilian when he
was unveiled to the media on Friday after
arriving in the French capital on a private
jet.



However, Neymar, who is poised to
earn around 30 million euros a year,
insisted financial gain was not a factor. “I
want something bigger, a greater
challenge.


I am here to give my best and
help the club win titles,” said Neymar, who
signed a five-year contract with the Qatar-
owned club.



He insisted he had come to
France “for the ambition of the club,
which is very similar to mine.” Neymar
admitted that leaving Barcelona, where he
formed part of a lethal attacking trio with
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, was not a
decision he took lightly. “It was one of my
most difficult decisions. In Barcelona I had
adapted well to the city and the team. I
had friends there and it has not been
easy,” he said.



“It was a tense time,
thinking about what I should do in my life.



I have left behind a lot of friends, but
things go very fast in football.” – ‘His value
will double’ – Neymar will become the
second highest-paid player in the world
— behind Carlos Tevez and his 38 million
euros a year at Shanghai Shenhua but
ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s 23.6 million
euros annual salary at Real Madrid. The
transfer fee shattered the previous world
record of 105 million euros set by
Manchester United in signing France
midfielder Paul Pogba last year from
Juventus.



It is an eye-watering sum, but
one that PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi
insisted will eventually look like a bargain
for the player who came third in the
Ballon d’Or in 2015 behind Messi and
Ronaldo.



“There are not two Neymars in
the world. I would love for us to meet in
two years and see what his value will be
compared to today. At least double,” said
Al-Khelaifi.



There is scepticism at the role
played by PSG’s owners Oryx Qatar Sports
Investments (QSI) at a time of political
crisis for the energy-rich state which has
been boycotted by its Gulf neighbours in
recent months and will play host to the
World Cup in 2022. On the field PSG are
hoping Neymar can help them win back
the Ligue 1 title lost to Monaco last season,
and also finally get their hands on the
Champions League trophy.