Brazilian captain Neymar was rumored to have rejected big-money offers from cash-rich clubs Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain just to stay with his current team FC Barcelona in La Liga.
The Sun reported that the 24-year-old Barça winger was offered "£650,000 (per week) to move to Paris Saint-Germain this summer" and also came "close" to transferring to England with the Red Devils, but he "wanted to stay at Barcelona" according to his agent.
After much deliberation between Neymar, his agent, and the said teams, the player eventually decided to sign a new bumper five-year deal with the Catalan giants that will make him stay with the club up to the year 2021.
Neymar is part of Barça's vaunted attacking frontline trio that also includes five-time Ballon d'Or awardee Lionel Messi, considered as the best footballer in the world right now, and two-time European Golden Shoe winner Luis Suárez.
The threesome had won two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey trophies, and a Champions League crown among the numerous trophies they have collected together since 2014.
The report revealed that new United manager Jose Mourinho had come close to acquiring Neymar, but ended up breaking the world transfer record with the £89.3 million signing of Paul Pogba last month. Meanwhile, PSG is said to be ready to cash out £160 million for the Brazilian's services, which would almost double the previous and current transfer record.
Wagner Ribeiro, Neymar's agent, confirmed that "he (Neymar) was very close to PSG. He would have earned €40 million (£33.9 million) a year" and that the winger was also "close to a move to Manchester United. But he renewed his contract for less money with Barcelona, because he wanted to stay in Barcelona", according to Caught Offside.
The article said that the former Santos FC player's "new contract includes a minimum fee release clause of €200 million (£169.4 million)", which could be unreachable by any club at this point.
Neymar had made his first appearance for Barça during the team's stunning 1-2 loss to newly-promoted side Alaves last Saturday after being granted an "extended break" following his recent international stint that led to the gold medal in this summer's Olympic Games as well as wins in the ongoing 2018 World Cup qualifying tournament.