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PSG appeal successful in Financial Fair Play case - and it’s bad news for Real Madrid
UEFA have been ordered to shut down a Financial Fair Play investigation into Paris Saint-Germain which could have a knock-on effect on Real Madrid.
UEFA have been investigating PSG over possible FFP breaches over the past two seasons.
The trigger came around the time they signed Neymar from Barcelona in a £200m deal that they paid in full up front.
Since then Barcelona have appealed to UEFA to investigate PSG’s finances to uncover if they have breached any FFP guidelines.
A breach could result in a fine for the French club or even mean them needing to sell players - such as star man Neymar - to meet FFP’s requirements.
But it appears as though this may not happen after UEFA’s case was thrown out by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
PSG went to CAS last summer to appeal UEFA’s original decision on their alleged FFP breaches.
And CAS found the appeal in PSG’s favour that the Adjudicatory Chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body had acted unlawfully in re-opening their investigation.
UEFA had closed their case on PSG on June 13 last year but then re-opened the case on June 22.
However, they only formally did this on October 3 - missing the 10-day window for which cases can be re-opened.
It means PSG may now have their FFP case settled and the French club can continue as they were.
In a statement PSG said: "The club has always respected the rules and always responded with calm and transparency to the demands made by the ICFC & UEFA."
And this is potentially bad news for Real Madrid.
Real are keen to sign Neymar in the summer after missing out on the Brazilian last year.
They are also chasing Kylian Mbappe but the likelihood of Los Blancos securing that move appears slim.
A move for Neymar well may be on the cards as Real president Florentino Perez pledges to back Zinedine Zidane in the transfer market.
Neymar - as well as Christian Eriksen, Eden Hazard and most recently Raheem Sterling - are on Zidane’s radar.
But if PSG have no pressure from above to sell players and make up for their mass spending then Neymar is unlikely to jump ship.
Indeed, manager Thomas Tuchel may well be handed a hefty kitty himself to spend in the summer.
Express Sport understands they are interested in signing Ryan Sessegnon from Fulham.
But both Manchester United and Tottenham want the youngster - valued at £50m - and he wants to stay in London.