Richard Scudamore "glad" Neymar did not join Premier League club

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 09 August 2017

Neymar's £200m transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain will be a one-off, according to Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore.

Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore has insisted that he is "glad" an English club did not rival Paris Saint-Germain to sign Neymar.

PSG snapped up the Brazil international from Barcelona for a fee of £200m last week, breaking the previous transfer record by more than double.

Scudamore believes that the amount handed over to sign Neymar will be a one-off, which he puts down purely to the spending power on show from the Parisians' mega-rich Qatari owners.

"There is a point where you say actually 'no'. I am glad that is not us who has got that particular record," he told Sky Sports News. "That is an unusual set of events I think. The Qataris - who own PSG - have suddenly decided they want to make a statement.

"And the rather perverse thing with having these buyout clauses is they are meant to prevent players moving. This one was tested and it does not worry me at all and I am kind of sitting here glad it was not a Premier League club who spent that much money on a player."

The previous biggest transfer fee was the £89m Manchester United paid to Juventus to sign Paul Pogba last August, while prior to that it was Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid in 2013.