The Neymar Identity: Football’s first real career commodity-player

PSG forward is reportedly set for an automatic contract extension to 2027 on 1 July, a new twist on the modern game

FLASH: Neymar of Brazil, right, fights for the ball against Ao Tanaka of Japan during a friendly match at the National Stadium in Tokyo Monday, June 6, 2022. Pic: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

We no longer want flashy, bling-bling. It’s the end of sequins.” No, not the sequins. How about diamanté? What is the official position, Nasser al-Khelaifi, president of Paris Saint-Germain, on the embroidered epaulette?

In an interview with Le Parisien this week, Khelaifi took the chance to outline his vision of a new utilitarian PSG: a PSG staffed by hungry, flat-faced hair-shirt men who look like David May with toothache.