When Brazilian striker Neymar made his shock transfer to Paris St Germaine from Barcelona for the record transfer fee of 222 million euros, fans of the French club cheered. The boost to the club, both in performance and standing would be immense. As it turns out, the tax windfall for the state will be significant.

The initial boost will come from taxes for the player’s salary. Neymar will end up paying close to 37 million Euros per year to the state in taxes and social security payments. Also, the massive transfer will also net the state some 100 million Euros in social security payments from the club.

“The minister of public accounts is delighted by the extra tax income Neymar will pay in France if he joins a French club,” the minister in question, Gerald Darmanin, told France Inter radio station.

“It’s better that this footballer pays his tax here instead of elsewhere.”

Neymar is under investigation in Brazil for tax fraud. When asked if Neymar will attempt any subversive methods of avoiding taxes:

“Don’t worry, the country’s interests, and its financial interests, in particular, will be well taken care of.”

According to rumors, all tax payments will come from the club. Neymar does not want to deal with taxes and other potential legal issues. His salary demands are after tax. In that situation, Neymar will get his salary, and the club will foot the bill for his taxes.

Paris Saint-Germain won 3-0 away at Guingamp on Sunday, as Neymar scored once and set up another for Edinson Cavani. The third goal was an own goal by Jordan Ikoko.

The good

Brazilian superstar Neymar made his debut for PSG and did not disappoint. His maiden performance for the club lit up the crowd as he set up the first goal, and contributed with the second. Captain Thiago Silva was solid in the back and ensure that there were no surprises. The French capital team did not underestimate their opponents, and despite a slow, goalless opening half, found gaps in their defense with a methodical and calm approach.

The bad

Three players let down the Parisians: Angel Di Maria, Thiago Motta, Layvin Kurzawa. All three players were far from their best. Their contribution to the game did not reflect the final score. They will need to up their game or swap out for replacement if PSG wants a shot at the title.

The manager

As far as the manager goes, he did a good enough job to secure the victory. Although Emery’s starting XI was good, it was a lack of changes as the match went on that is a concern. Especially, the lack of any changes in the midfield where Angel and Thiago underperformed.

The rest of the team played well, with Neymar the star of the game, with a dream debut for his new club. The future looks good for PSG with Neymar and Cavani developing a good understanding.

Ever wondered what the day in the life of a professional soccer player is like? Here is the full day schedule of former Manchester United and Everton player Phil Neville:

Morning

6:00 am – Phil gets up in the morning and performs some light Yoga. An example is a three-minute flow of sun salutations.

6:30am – Breakfast of porridge and some fruit like strawberries or pineapple. Phil washes down the breakfast with a glass of orange juice and some tea.

8.30am – Hydration is important and he drinks a bottle of water on the way to practice and on the way back.

9.00am – Neville does Yoga again as soon as he gets to practice: “The first thing I do when I’m at the training ground is a 30-minute yoga session with a couple of the other players. Yoga has 26 poses, and our teacher will concentrate on five or six tailored for the movements of football. I pay particular attention to my hips and my groin.”

9.30am – Warm before training consists of 10-25 minutes of cycling at about 80rpm followed by small speed hurdles for 20 minutes.

10.00am – 1.00pm – Soccer specific training for the next two hours followed by a protein shake and relaxation at lunch time. At 1.00pm all the players eat a health lunch of lean protein and vegetables and a salad.

2.00pm – He returns home at 2pm and sleeps for an hour and a half. This afternoon nap is essential for recovery.

The rest of the day is spent with family and continued feeding and protein shakes.

According to a report by KPMG, the combined enterprise value of the most popular soccer clubs in Europe exceeds $33 billion. The report “Football Clubs’ Valuation: The European Elite 2017” states that the 32 clubs on the list grew by more than 14% in the last year.

English football giants Manchester United lead the list with an enterprise value of more than 3 billion Euros. Second and third on the list fall to Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona. Amazingly, ten clubs are worth more than a billion euros.

The sport is reaping the benefits of its commercial and television deals:

“While this is partially explained by football’s broadcasting boom, the internationalization of the clubs’ commercial operations, their investment into privately-owned and modern facilities, and overall more sustainable management practices are also key reasons for this growth,” said Andrea Sartori, global head of sports at KPMG

Teams are making smarter choices when it comes to signing commercial sponsorship. It also helps that the English Premier League is a global sport, shown live across the world. This explains why six of the top ten clubs on the list are from the UK. The most recent TV deal awarded in the UK to Sky and BT was worth $6.6 billion.

There are no American clubs on the list, however, with the rapid growth in popularity of the sport, it is only a matter of time before we see an American in the top 10.

In the same way that strength training for soccer involves more than just lifting weights, improving endurance is more than just building an aerobic base. The typical soccer player has very specific endurance needs. According to soccer apparel vendor Umbro, soccer players spend on average 30% of a game walking, 30-40% jogging and at least 25% of the time running. These require very different modes of training to optimize each. Here are the primary principles of endurance training for soccer:

Specific

The training should be sport specific and tailored to each type of movement. For example, soccer players will run, and swimmers will swim. Above that, for each phase of the game, soccer players should optimize for walking, jogging, and running.

Overload

The training sessions should be intense enough to create training effort. Unless the player pushes beyond existing levels, they will not see any benefit from the training. Also, even when they do, they need to keep pushing until they reach a target performance level.

Progression

As per the above, when a player keeps pushing, they will eventually reach a point where it will be their new comfort zone. This is why a training program with a progression built-in. There must be targets, along with new targets for when they pass previous milestones.

Recovery

This is the most important of all. Take enough time to recover from training. The above training programs are tough both physically and mentally. The central nervous system can only take so much of a strain.

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. The main reason for this popularity, other than the sport itself, is the relatively little equipment that is required to play. At its most basic level, all you need is a ball. However, the skill level required to play can be quite high. Here are the most basic soccer skills a child will need to practice in order to become better at the game:

Dribbling

This is the most basic soccer skill. It is also the first thing that every child should learn. Practice dribbling by arranging pylons and asking the kids to dribble around them. Dribbling is done with the laces of the boots while not kicking the ball.

Passing

Once dribbling is under control and kids have decent ball control, the next step is to learn to pass the ball. It is one of the most important skills. They should learn to pass to teammates and to receive passes. They should use the instep and accurately pass the ball.

Shooting

This is the most popular part of soccer for most kids. The ball should be kicked with the laces of the shoe rather than the toe. Kicking with the toe will result in inaccurate shots. The knee should be over the ball at the point of the strike.

These are three most important soccer skills for any young soccer player. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, and the more they practice, the better they will get.