Brazilian striker Neymar has formally informed Barcelona of his decision to leave the club, thereby moving a step closer to a potential world-record move to Paris Saint-Germain.

Barcelona confirmed via a statement on their official website that Neymar had informed them of his “decision to leave the club”. Barcelona also made it clear that the buy-out clause in the Brazilian’s contract, which as of July 1 amounts to €222 million, “will have to be deposited in its entirety”.

Until the money is deposited, Neymar “remains under contract at FC Barcelona but with temporary permission to not take part in training sessions”, the statement added.

Earlier, Neymar had dropped by Barcelona’s training session to say goodbye to his teammates. “Neymar has communicated to the dressing room that he is leaving the club and he said goodbye to his teammates,” Spanish publication Diario Sport quoted another club statement as stating.

PSG are reportedly ready to pay the €222 million buyout clause in his contract. Neymar is expected to undergo a medical at PSG by the end of the week or on Monday next week, according to French sports newspaper L’Equipe.

However, the transfer could still be blocked by La Liga, whose president Javier Tebas said in a recent interview, “We will [make a complaint about PSG] because they infringe Uefa’s Financial Fair Play rules and also the European Union’s competition rules.”

He added, “We will make a complaint to Uefa and if they don’t do anything we will take it to the competition tribunals in Switzerland and Brussels. And, from there, we don’t rule out going through the courts in France and Spain.”

With inputs from AFP