Neymar counter sues FC Barcelona for €44 million after club demands for him to return overpayment

Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar Jr., has instructed his lawyers to sue his former club, FC Barcelona for €44 million (₤39.5 million) in relation to unpaid bonuses.

The lawsuit is the Brazilian's response to a case filed by the Catalan club against him last week, which is demanding him to return €10 million that they deem they had overpaid him before his departure.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward has also appealed against an earlier ruling from back in June, which had courts ordering him to pay the Catalan giants 6.7 million euros.

In total, Neymar is demanding close to 60 million euros from the La Liga side, whom he played for until his controversial move to PSG back in 2017. The Brazilian is suing the club to pay him the remaining 44 million euros from a renewal bonus he had agreed with the club. This demand comes despite the fact that he did not finish the duration of the aforementioned renewal. He has so far only received the percentage of the bonus that Barcelona paid him until he left for Paris.

According to Marca, the renewal bonus was worth 26 million euros, and was part of the contract that should have seen Neymar at the Camp Nou until 2021. However, he decided to cut the contract short to join the Ligue 1 champions on a lucrative deal in 2017. As such, Barcelona feels that they don't need to pay him any part of the renewal bonus.

In fact, Barcelona feels that they have overpaid Neymar by €10 million. The overpayment is allegedly part of funds paid to Neymar as Barcelona was trying to avoid tax irregularities during an investigation on his transfer from Santos to Barcelona. Neymar was signed by Barcelona from the Brazilian side way back in 2013. Barcelona was accused of concealing the real amount paid to Santos at that time. The club has since denied all the allegations.

However, on top of his issues against the club itself, Neymar is also believed to still be owing up to €34.6 million in back taxes from his earnings during his time in Spain.

The High Court of Justice of Catalonia will be handling the case.