PSG president Al-Khelaifi shoots down Neymar links

In a shocking turn of events, PSG's president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has shot down strong rumours linking Neymar with a move to the French side.

Neymar was widely touted to complete a move to PSG within the next two weeks in a blockbuster €222 million deal. The Brazilian international left Barcelona's training ground last week after a bust-up with new signing Nelson Semedo and later cancelled an event with Chinese travel company Ctrip, citing "transfer business" as the reason behind his absence. 

However, the transfer saga took another twist after PSG's president Al-Khelaifi played down those reports and rumours.

Speaking on Moroccan television station Medi 1 TV, Al-Khelaifi was quoted by Spanish news outlet Marca as saying: "All of this is talk. Neymar is a Barcelona player and we will see what happens with him. PSG respect all contracts that exist between other teams and their players. I hope to speak about this issue another time."

Despite him later saying that PSG aims to bring in top players who are "recognized around the world" as it helps to increase the club's reputations, he reiterated that they will not use underhanded means to bypass contractual agreements a player has with a club. 

Al-Khelaifi could have made this statement to remove some attention from the deal as it might make it easier to complete the move without media or public focus. Barcelona have already threatened to launch an investigation into the Neymar deal should it go through and that is surely something PSG does not want, having already breached the rules of UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules previously.