Barcelona's Gerard Piqué said that photographs posted on social media this week by Barcelona players with Neymar "should not be interpreted as a message to the club's board," according to Sam Marsden of ESPN.com. Hours after Barcelona announced it was "suing Neymar for a breach of his contract" following his move to Paris St. Germain, "images appeared" of Piqué, Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, among others, at a party at the Brazil int'l's home in the Catalan city. Some felt the images -- which included Neymar recreating Pique's "now infamous 'Se queda' tweet" -- were a way of the Barcelona players "showing their support for their former teammate, as opposed to the club." Piqué: "These are things that happen, it's a coincidence. The club are going to court with Neymar, but we were at a party [with him] and no one had communicated anything to us. They were normal photos. Neymar is a former teammate but he's also a friend. If we want to send messages to the board, we will do it in private and we will sit down with the club. We don't need to use social media. It's all been taken out of context" (ESPN.com, 8/24).
UNFP BACKS NEYMAR: FOOTBALL ESPANA reported the French Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) backed Neymar against the "vile vengeance" of Barcelona's legal threats. The UNFP said in a statement, "The UNFP fully supports the Brazilian player and would not hesitate to promulgate advice if Paris St Germain asked him to do so" (
FOOTBALL ESPANA, 8/24).
A BIG ASK: AS reported Cristiano Ronaldo "wants to be the best-paid player in the world," according to reports. He has asked Real Madrid to increase his salary to €40M ($47.2M) per year so that he would make more than Messi and Neymar (AS, 8/24).
