Neymar Has No Buyout Clause in PSG Contract, Didier Quillot Says

Paris Saint-Germain's star man Neymar does not have a release clause in his current contract with the French champions, according to Ligue 1 president Didier Quillot.

"In his contract which is registered with the league, and is official, there is no buy-out clause, and secondly these types of clauses are illegal in French football," Quillot said, per Marca's Pablo Polo.

El Pais had claimed Neymar had a €300 million release clause that could be activated in September (h/t ESPN FC's Jonathan Johnson).

Despite having only joined PSG in summer 2017, the Brazilian has already been heavily linked with a move away from the club. Neymar wants to join Real Madrid and is keen to have the deal done before the 2018 FIFA World Cup, per Sport (h/t Daniel Matthews for MailOnline).

Thibault Camus/Associated Press

Neymar's move to PSG from Barcelona was something of a shock, with the transfer widely seen as something of a step down for the Brazilian. The Catalan giants are one of the biggest and most successful teams in Europe but were powerless to prevent their star man from leaving after PSG activated his €222 million release clause.

Quillot's comments mean that if any club does want to sign Neymar, it will have to come to an agreement with PSG. Yet the French champions are unlikely to have much interest in selling their star player and one of their biggest assets.

The 26-year-old scored 19 goals and contributed 13 assists in 20 Ligue 1 outings for the Parisiens this season before injury interrupted his campaign.

Neymar is sidelined after undergoing surgery on his foot, but that has not kept him out of the headlines. The Brazilian posted an update on Instagram showing he was playing poker while PSG were clinching the league title, per James Dutton for MailOnline.

Johnson said it was not the best way to show interest in PSG:

Neymar has said he hopes to be fit for the World Cup and plans to return to training on May 17, per BBC Sport.

However, PSG coach Unai Emery said he does not know when Neymar will return to action, as shown by Goal:

There's a growing sense that Neymar's move to PSG was a stepping stone in a bigger plan. Moving from Barcelona to Real Madrid would be problematic due to the intense rivalry between the two clubs. However, a stop-off at PSG along the way could make it easier to seal a move to the Santiago Bernabeu.