Monday 24 July 2017 17:35, UK
Barcelona's Brazilian forward Neymar continues to be linked with a move that would see him become the most expensive player in football history but how would PSG fund a deal?
The release clause in Neymar's Barcelona contract is set at €222m (£196m) and despite team-mate Gerard Pique's social media hint, Sky Sports News understands there is a '90 per cent' chance he will leave for Paris.
Paris Saint-Germain remain willing to part with a sum that would smash the current record transfer fee - the £89m Manchester United paid Juventus for Paul Pogba last summer.
With wages, agent fees and other extras to be taken into account, the total deal for Neymar could end up costing PSG in the region of £450m.
How can any team afford to pay such money? Sky Sports News got all the answers from football lawyer Daniel Geey.
Would the deal not contravene financial fair play rules?
"The basic premise is, under the financial fair play rules, you can't spend more than you earn. PSG obviously would be spending a fortune, around 200 million euros.
"The way that accounting principles work is that usually, instead of the 200 million being a cost against one year, it is spread over the length of the deal.
"So, depending on how long the deal is, let's just say it is five years, the cost for that first year and every subsequent year would be 40 million."
How does the potential bill of around £450m break down?
"If it is around the 200 million euro buy-out number, then usually that full amount will probably have to be paid up front.
"Alongside that, there are obviously his wages, his signing-on fees, loyalty bonuses, plus there could be goal and win bonuses, and there are obviously agent fees to be paid on that.
"There might be agent fees for the selling club, the buying club, and those fees themselves could be anything from 5-10% of the commission.
"It is astronomical sums that are being discussed but this would only be the case for the stellar four or five players around the world and obviously Neymar falls into that category."
How does the potential deal affect the balance of power in the transfer market?
"There is an interesting debate raging. On one side you have Premier League transfer fees and Premier League clubs paying large sums but, on the other hand, you have the non-UK clubs really flexing their muscles.
"You have PSG with a huge bid, Barcelona with potentially a huge bid for Philippe Coutinho (of Liverpool), so the narrative is that supposedly the Premier League clubs are dominating the transfer market but we are seeing a bit of a push-back from the continent as well."
