In addition, Santos, Neymar's mother and a company run by his parents will also face charges, as will the Barcelona president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and his predecessor Sandro Rosell.

In a statement the high court in Spain said: ‘Santos FC, Barcelona FC, Neymar, his mother Nadine Goncalves and N&N, the family company, have lost their appeals to have charges of fraud and corruption dropped.’

They cannot appeal against the court's decision. Spanish prosecutors have recommended Neymar be given a two-year jail sentence and fined up to €10m (£8.5m). They are also seeking a fine of about £7.2m for Barcelona and £5.6m for Santos.

The case relates to a complaint from Brazilian investment group DIS, which owned 40% of Neymar's sporting rights at the time of his transfer. The company claims it received less money than it should have when Neymar joined the Spanish club from Santos because part of the transfer fee was concealed by Barcelona, Santos and the Neymar family.

In June 2016, a judge ruled the case was a civil rather than criminal one, but Spain’s public prosecutor successfully overturned the ruling in September, allowing the case to proceed.

Neymar's Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi and Messi’s father were given 21 month suspended jail sentences in July 2016 for tax fraud relating to the player’s image rights.