The agent of Barcelona star Neymar has defended the fee paid for the former Santos winger.
Neymar's agent, Wagner Ribeiro, had dinner with the player's father and Barcelona president Josep María Bartomeu on Monday.
"Neymar cost 17.1 million, which is about average for all of the big clubs. He cost less than all of the players who come up through the youth system. Let me explain: If 40 million plus 54 million for the five years (contract) make a total of 94 million, that represents 18.8 million a year," he explained.
"If we discount taxes of 56% from the principal, that leaves 8.272 million a year, which is a much lower salary than he would earn at other clubs which were offering 12 million net.
"In my view, Neymar should have signed for another club and would be earning much more than he is, but he wanted to go to Barcelona and so the deal went through even though it was bad for him financially."
