Neymar Senior and Florentino Perez give contradictory testimony in court

Neymar Junior is currently in court as he stands accused of corruption between individuals for his transfer to Barcelona.

He is facing up to two years in prison if convicted, while former Barcelona President Sandro Rosell could be sentenced for up to five years.

The case began on Monday and involves a number of big names giving testimony. In addition to Rosell and Neymar, the likes of Real Madrid President Florentino Perez, Andoni Zubizarreta and Josep Maria Bartomeu have all been called to the stand.

Neymar himself has denied all responsibility for the charges, which are being brought for payments not made to DIS, a Brazilian company that held 40% of Neymar’s rights at Santos. They say they have not been paid for the matter.

“It all depended on my father, who is the one who takes care of these things. I sign what my father says.”

Sport provided live coverage of the trial, where Neymar told the judge that he had only intended to play for Barcelona.

“My dream was always to play for Barca. As a child I wanted to play there because of the players they had and I always follow my heart. I had the chance to go to Real Madrid, but I wanted to play for Barca.”

Perez explained that Los Blancos had also made an offer for Neymar.

“In 2011, Real Madrid made an offer to Santos for Neymar. I think it was €45m. It’s there in the summary. The players go where they want. Neymar I think wanted to go to Barcelona and that is why he went to Barcelona. The offer in 2011 was of €45m, not 60m.”

However Neymar Senior, the Paris Saint-Germain player’s father, contradicted that statement.

“Real Madrid made offers to Neymar from 2009 on. But Neymar, since childhood, wanted to play for Barcelona.”

Controversially on both days of the trial, the judge has excused the Neymar family early.