Brazilian star Neymar will go on trial next October over alleged irregularities in his transfer to Spanish football club Barcelona in 2013, a court source said on Wednesday. Neymar and former Barcelona presidents Sandro Russell and Josep Maria Bartomeu will face trial over allegations of “corruption” over a deal to sign the current French club Paris Saint-Germain striker from his former Brazilian club Santos in 2013. The trial will take place from 17 to 31 October. The case was opened based on a complaint filed by Brazilian group DIS, which owns part of the rights to the player, after it considered itself affected by the move to the Catalan club.

The investigation into the case began in January 2014 after a contradiction was found in some documents requested by the authorities. Barcelona initially agreed to pay 57.1 million euros (40 million to the player’s family and 17.1 million to his former club Santos) in exchange for his services, but according to the Spanish judiciary, the deal was worth at least 83 million. Euro. The DIS group, which received 6 million of the amount paid to the Brazilian club, considers that Barcelona and Neymar agreed to hide the true value of this deal. Prosecutors asked for two years in prison for Neymar. The player stated before the court that he came to Spain only to play football and that he trusted his father, who was his agent. In the summer of 2017, Neymar moved from Barcelona to Saint Germain in a €222 million deal, making him the most expensive player in the world.