“I can verify that Neymar is no longer a Nike athlete,” american sportswear giant Josh Benedek spokesman said in an email to the AFP on Saturday, without giving details.
According to media reports, the 28-year-old Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazilian talisman in talks with Nike’s German rival Puma.
“We don’t comment on the rumors,” said a spokesman for Puma in Germany.
Brazilian newsman UOL said Neymar and Nike had failed to reach agreement on how much they would get for renewing their contract.
He said negotiations between the company and the footballer’s agents had begun months earlier.
Neymar’s communications team did not respond to a request for comment.
Similarly, Puma did not promptly answer questions about reports as the corporate in conversations to point it out.
Brazil’s Folha de Sao Paulo said Neymar’s most recent deal with Nike, an 11-year contract that won’t expire until 2022, has a total value of $105 million.
Neymar, who has just come out of the pain of losing the last Champions League to Bayern Munich, holds the record for the most beloved football play in history.
The PSG paid him 222 million euros from Barcelona in 2017.
Forbes magazine, which ranks it seventh among the highest-paid celebrities in the world, estimates its earnings for this year on $95. 5 million promotional contracts.
Neymar signed his first contract with Nike when he was a young player for Brazilian Santos, who sold him to Barcelona in 2013.
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With his thin beauty, tattoos, ever-changing hairstyles and massive success on social media, the player temporarily exploded on the foreign stage, dazzling world football with the skills he honed by playing five “futsal” in the nasty streets of the Sao Paulo suburb. .
But her brand, already tainted by accusations of tax evasion over her shady transfer to Barça, was seriously broken last year when a Brazilian woman accused her of raping her.
Nike expressed his “deep concern” at the time, stood firm before the player after police closed the case, raising the lack of evidence.
Neymar will wear Nike clothing in the field: corporate sponsors are PSG and Brazilian national team.
The company sponsors many of the sport’s most iconic names, including Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, Serena Williams, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.