'Neymar could be forced to leave Barcelona'

Neymar could be forced to leave Barcelona due to his ongoing tax fraud case, according to the Brazilian's father.

A Brazilian court has frozen £31.3 million worth of assets belonging to the Barca forward, his family and related businesses. The 23-year-old is alleged to evaded £10.5m in Brazil taxes between 2011 and 2013.

Neymar, who was wanted by Manchester United, is in talks with the Spanish champions over a new deal but the player's father warns that the current investigations could jeopardise his future.

"We are talking about renewal but we are need to solve some things,” Neymar’s father told Cadena SER.

“We need to know if Spain accepts our situation. It's hard for us because we are receiving many attacks, from Brazil and from Spain. Neymar is a star and works his image here and from Brazil.

"We're talking to everyone to know what to do with this matter because we don't want to be in Spain two, three, four, five or ten years and then we are caught by surprise by saying that our structure is wrong. We need to know if things are right for us.

"We must do the right things and know if Spain let us work. We need to stop these investigations. We want the peace of mind. His image is not associated with his job. His image is part of a company in Brazil, which has existed since 2006. It is not now that we've taken advantage of his image. For years we've been working with this company. I do not want to talk about persecution but if we don't have a comfortable situation to work we can not stay in Spain.

"We never had such big fiscal problems in Brazil. After arriving Spain the attacks began and the attacks have now spread to Brazil. We will respect the contract he has with the club but we don't want a renewal without peace of mind.”

Barcelona's Brazilian forward Neymar da Silva Santos Junior celebrates his goal during the Spanish league football match. Photo: AFP