Neymar fan event cancelled as Barcelona star deals with 'transfer issues'

A fan event involving Neymar in Shanghai has been cancelled as the Barcelona star and his entourage are busy with "transfer issues", a travel company has confirmed.

Ctrip released a statement on Friday saying that the Brazil star will not be attending the event on July 31 as he is uncertain whether or not he will be available.

The news is likely to encourage speculation that the 25-year-old has agreed to join PSG in a world-record €222million deal.

Ctrip's statement, posted on their official Weibo account, read: "It's with great regret that we must announce the cancellation of Neymar's forthcoming 'fans meeting' set to begin in Shanghai on July 31.

"Mr. Neymar and his team occupy themselves dealing with transfer issues and cannot say for sure whether they could manage to arrive in Shanghai on July 31. So, we've decided to cancel the 'fans meeting'."

Neymar has been on a publicity tour to promote a new range of personalised boots, which are released this week.

The former Santos forward has been linked with a stunning move to Ligue 1 after reports emerged in Spain that he is unsettled at Camp Nou and eager to escape the shadow of team-mate Lionel Messi.

Messi and Luis Suarez are said to have spoken directly to Neymar to convince him to ignore any PSG offer, while Gerard Pique caused a stir when he posted a picture of the two of them on Twitter along with the caption "he stays".

Pique later explained that his tweet was "just a personal opinion" and Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu later admitted that the player's future was out of the club's hands if PSG met his €222m release clause.