Santos ‘paid’ R$ 11 million to Neymar family firm as debt plan advances | OneFootball

Santos have paid R$ 11 million to NR Sports, the Neymar family company, trimming their outstanding debt.

Canal do Fábio Sormani reported the payment, with much of it funded by the R$ 8.5 million instalment from Luca Meirelles’s sale to Shakhtar Donetsk last year.

In April the club recognised a R$ 90.5 million liability to NR Sports and set an instalment plan to complete payments by mid-2030.

The debt was formalised in a contract addendum signed late last year, part of a renegotiation over the No 10’s image rights.

That agreement sets R$ 26 million from the expired deal in R$ 5.2 million instalments between January and May this year, without indexation. The remaining R$ 64.5 million is due in 43 monthly payments of R$ 1.5 million from June, indexed to IPCA/FGV.

The payment comes amid financial strain, the club owe two months of image rights to the squad and are seeking funds to clear them by the end of the month.

Neymar is contracted to Santos until 2026 and is expected to return on Saturday at 18:30, Brasília time, against Chapecoense in the Brasileirão. Rested for Tuesday’s heavy win at UCV in Venezuela, he was given Wednesday off. He is due back at CT Rei Pelé on Thursday morning to step up preparations, with the weekend fixture set to be his first since Brazil’s 2-1 defeat to Norway in the World Cup last 16.

Source: Globo.com