PARIS (AP) — Neymar opened a new extravagant chapter in soccer history Friday as the game's costliest player by fending off questions about his financial motivations as deftly as he repels opponents on the pitch.
Paris Saint-Germain's 222 million euro ($262 million) recruit was sticking to the script at his presentation in the French capital. Leaving the prestige of Barcelona for the less exalted surroundings of PSG was about seizing the chance to raise the status of an ambitious club, rather than about the size of an annual salary reported to be 30 million euros.
"I was never motivated by money," Neymar told a crowded news conference at the Parc des Princes home of PSG.