Barcelona have reportedly had Neymar’s future signing assured of since the tail end of 2011, according to a report in Spain.
The Santos star has been long paired with a move to the Catalan outfit and rumoured in parts to have a pre-contract agreement signed with Barca since last summer, to join them in any transfer window up until summer 2014.
Sport claim today that Barca’s assurance of picking up the 21-year-old Brazil international stems further back, to November 2011, when a ‘private agreement’ was signed between the player and the club, as a commitment to his intentions of signing in the future.
It is alleged that this agreement granted Barca a preferential purchase option, exclusively across the European market.
