A Brazillian court has frozen $48 million in Neymar‘s assets among allegations of tax evasion.
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Neymar is accused of not paying 63.3 million reais (£10.5m) in taxes between 2011 and 2013.
He added that Neymar “is exclusively responsible for the income declaration”.
The Brazil team captain moved in 2013 from Brazilian club Santos to Spain’s Barcelona in a transfer whose payment is also under investigation by Spanish tax authorities. The AP reached his agent, but said that they would provide a comment at a later time.
The 23-year-old is one of the best players in world football and his signing would have made a real statement of intent that United were serious about getting themselves back among the very elite of European football after a hard couple of years.
While it’s not clear how exactly the misstatement occurred, the assets seized included three companies listed in the names of Neymar and his father.
The action covers property and vehicles and is a preventive measure to stop the player from selling assets before the case is settled.
Neymar joined Barcelona in June 2013 after a successful career with the Brazilian club, Santos.
While many thought Woodward’s sole objective was to wrap up a deal with Pedro, Neymar’s former Barcelona teammate, Neymar told Brazilian ESPN (via the Guardian) that Woodward was there also to lure him to the Premier League. As things stand, Neymar still looks likely to ply his trade in Catalonia for the foreseeable future, even if he stands somewhat in the shadow of Lionel Messi.
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Barcelona secured the services of Neymar for a rumored €57.1m, but later Josep Maria Bartomeu admitted that the total fee accounted for somewhere close to €86.2m.
