PSG paid $1.2 million for Cavani to give Neymar the right to take penalties

President Nasser Al-Khelaifi wants to settle the conflict between Cavani and Neymar by "bribing" both stars.

Through an intermediary, the PSG President wanted to pay Edinson Cavani $1.2 million to give up his first penalty kick, according to El País (Spain). But Cavani immediately refused because he "wasn't interested in money". If PSG wanted to give him more bonuses, he wouldn't refuse, but he wouldn't be allowed to give up his penalty kicks. In the contract, the 30-year-old striker would also receive $1.2 million if he won the Ligue 1 top scorer title. These two amounts are unrelated.

Neymar and Cavani refused to give in to each other in the penalty shootout dispute. Photo: AS.

Al-Khelaifi also made a similar offer to Neymar, which was a $1.2 million reward for the former Barca star to give up his desire to be given priority in taking penalties. According to El Pais, PSG explained that they considered Neymar to be the core of the team, and a person like that needed to be generous and not be petty about these scandals. But Neymar did not accept that logic.

Nasser's huge offer came after Neymar and Cavani argued over a penalty in the 79th minute of the win over Lyon nearly 10 days ago. Cavani refused to take it, but missed the attempt. The two stars also had a fight when PSG beat Saint-Etienne 3-0 exactly a month ago. Neymar also asked Cavani to take the penalty, but was refused.

Coach Unai Emery had to speak up, and decided that Cavani would still take penalties for PSG as he had done all previous seasons. The former Napoli striker became the main striker of the Paris capital team after Zlatan Ibrahimovic left. Cavani contributed 49 goals in 50 matches last season.

El País also pointed out that Emery and sporting director Antero Henrique had to work with captain Thiago Silva and vice-captain Thiago Motta to resolve the problems in the dressing room. Neymar apologized but did not improve the tense atmosphere. In recent training sessions, Cavani and Neymar even ignored each other.

According to VNE