Neymar's Management Company Denies Reports of New Spanish Tax Investigation

Neymar's management company has said the Paris Saint-Germain superstar is not the subject of a new tax investigation in Spain, despite recent reports to the contrary.

El Mundo Deportivo (h/t Goal's Sacha Pisani) reported on Monday that Spanish tax authorities had opened a fresh investigation into Neymar's finances. However, NR Sports posted a statement via its Instagram account denying that was the case:

"NR Sports, the company responsible for the exclusive management of Neymar Jr's career and image rights, hereby states that, on the contrary to the material published by the Spanish newspaper 'El Mundo' and reproduced in various means of communications, no investigative procedure was opened by the Spanish Treasury against Neymar Jr.

"What happened, in fact, was a request from the Spanish Revenue Service to the local Labor Court to be informed of the outcome of the facts of a scheduled hearing on March 21. That is, the Revenue Service wants to be kept in the loop of the outcome of the process."

The reported investigation was said to be focused on a bonus Neymar was paid by Barcelona for the five-year contract extension he signed at the Camp Nou in 2016, per France 24, though there is an active dispute between Neymar and Barcelona over the payment.

NR Sports' statement also moved to clear up apparent confusion regarding the cost of Neymar's 2017 transfer from Barcelona to Paris: "The amounts are included in the income tax return submitted to the Spanish authority in the year 2018 for the base year 2017. We hope to have clarified the facts."

The Brazilian's €222 million move to the Parc des Princes was worth more than double the existing world transfer record at the time of his move in August 2017.

Neymar earns €45 million (£40.8 million) per year in Paris, but he said soon after his switch from the Camp Nou that the transfer was not motivated by money, via BBC News:

Marca provided more detail on Neymar's court battle with Barca regarding his 2016 bonus. They specified that because he lived in Spain for 183 days in 2017, he's "obliged to pay all his tax to the Spanish government for that year."

It's also alleged that PSG redacted certain figures in Neymar's contract from the documents that were requested by Spain's tax agency for the investigation.

Neymar's future at PSG has again become a topic of discussion after the French giants were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 by Manchester United.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez spoke at the presentation unveiling Zinedine Zidane as the club's new manager for a second time on Monday. There, he suggested his side could sign both PSG stars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, per HLN journalist Kristof Terreur:

 Neymar is currently out injured because of a broken foot, with his return anticipated to come in April.