Neymar signs new four-year Paris Saint-Germain deal

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 19 May 2021 14:39 BST
• 4 min read

Neymar has signed a five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain that will keep him at the Parc des Princes until 2025.

The Brazil international’s previous agreement with the club expired in 2022, which made him vulnerable to either departing in the summer for a relatively cheap price or leaving next summer as a free agent.

READ MORE: How much does Neymar earn and what is the football legend’s net worth?

PSG, however, have successfully reached an accord with the 29-year-old Neymar, who has committed himself to the club for what might be the final contract of his career.

How good has Neymar been at PSG?

Neymar became the most expensive player in the world in 2017 when PSG paid €222 million to sign him from Barcelona. It was a deal that sent shockwaves around the footballing world as it more than doubled the previous record fee.

Circumstances have meant, however, that Neymar has struggled to live up to that billing in the matches in which PSG have needed him the most.

Injury struck at unfortunate times in his first three campaigns, ruling him out of vital Champions League fixtures against Real Madrid and Manchester United, both of which saw PSG crash out at the last-16 stage. Although he was part of the squad that reached the European Cup final in the 2019/20 season, he was not fully fit for the Final 8.

Neymar also missed the round-of-16 tie this year against Barcelona, although PSG negotiated it with a 5-2 aggregate victory in his absence. He returned for the matches against Bayern Munich and Manchester City, in which PSG ultimately fell at the semi-final stage.

When fit, Neymar has proven to be a devastating presence for the Parisians. He has scored 85 goals for PSG in 112 outings, including 20 in the Champions League. Furthermore, he has 51 assists to his name.

Nevertheless, Neymar, who moved to PSG partly in a bid to take himself out of Lionel Messi’s shadow in order to win the Ballon d’Or, has not achieved such heights yet.

Kylian Mbappe’s contract

With a deal for Neymar resolved, PSG’s challenge is now to get fellow forward Kylian Mbappe to commit himself to the club on a long-term basis.

His deal is also up in 2022, though there appears a stronger prospect that he might depart in the summer, with Real Madrid courting him.

Whereas Neymar has been open for several weeks about his intention to stay with PSG, Mbappe has been rather more reticent to commit himself to the club.