Eric Cantona Questions Neymar's PSG Transfer, Says Ligue 1 Doesn't Interest Him

French football icon Eric Cantona has detailed his surprise as to why record-breaker Neymar departed Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in a £200 million deal over the summer. 

Former Leeds and Manchester United forward Cantona also played in his native Ligue 1 with the likes of Marseille and Auxerre, but he told Yahoo Sport (h/t MailOnline's Robert Cottingham) he was confused by Neymar's decision to move:

"When you are 25 years old and play for Brazil and Barcelona you wonder a little why he has come to France, to play against Guingamp or Amiens. 

"The Champions League? It's a maximum of 10 matches in the season. I do not understand why he came to play in France. It's not my vision of passion and football. 

"I never really watched the L1. I'm going to watch what? Play PSG against Guingamp? It does not interest me."

Sportdec offered one possibility as to what could have motivated Neymar to move to the Parc des Princes and join PSG:

According to Football Leaks (h/t Goal), Neymar is now the second-highest-paid player in the world, earning an annual wage of €36.8 million (£33 million), or a little less than £650,000 per week.

Cantona elaborated on which PSG players he takes an interest in, even if Neymar doesn't feature among the cast: "Does [Javier] Pastore still play PSG? I love Pastore. He plays very little? Too bad. Maybe that's why I will not watch PSG. And [Hatem] Ben Arfa he plays? No? So definitely I will not look at them."

The Brazilian is second only to Shanghai Shenhua-based Carlos Tevez in terms of football earnings.

Neymar's transfer didn't pass without its own hardships, however, as Marcos Lopez of Spanish daily Marca reported he cried to Barcelona president Jose Maria Bartomeu on two occasions attempting to stop the transfer. Those calls went unanswered, and the Blaugrana completed the biggest deal in transfer history.

Cantona may be right to question the motivation behind Neymar's move to Ligue 1, but there's little doubting his individual profile has increased since making the switch.

There's an argument to be had that for whatever trophies he might have won at Barca, Neymar would have for some time been second fiddle to the likes of Lionel Messi or Luis Suarez for as long as they're present.

In contrast, Neymar's chances of silverware success and trophy acclaim may not look as strong at PSG, but with 11 goals in 10 appearances, there's no doubting he's developing into the prime piece of their puzzle.