Europe’s highest rated player could leave La Liga, claims father

Manchester United have been put on red alert after Neymar’s father has threatened to pull the Barcelona striker out of La Liga if his tax issues aren’t resolved.

There is currently a long-standing tax investigation into Neymar’s transfer from Santos to Barcelona in 2013 and his father insists his son will not sign a new deal with the La Liga champions until the matter is sorted.

Neymar, 23, has been heavily linked with a move to United over the last few weeks and the news of any unrest will be music to Louis van Gaal’s ears.

“We are talking about a contract renewal but we’re waiting to resolve some things that concern us,” Neymar Sr told Cadena SER.

“We can’t have this uncertainty with the tax of not knowing if what we’re doing is right. We need to know if Spain accepts our situation.

“It’s hard for us because we’re receiving many attacks, from Spain and Brazil on matters of taxation. Neymar is a media player and we work his image from Brazil.

“We’re talking to everyone to know what to do with this issue because we don’t want to be in Spain for two, three, four, five or 10 years and then be caught by surprise by being told our structure isn’t correct.”

Neymar is currently in the form of his life at Barcelona and has stepped up in the injury absence of Lionel Messi. In fact, the Brazil international has scored played a direct hand in 16 of Barcelona’s last 19 goals in all competitions and is highest rated player across Europe’s top five leagues (8.63).

For more stats on Neymar, click here to visit his WhoScored player page