PARIS: After Paris Saint-Germain announced on Monday that the forward needs ankle surgery and will be out of action for three to four months, Neymar promised to “come back stronger.”
The Brazilian player “has experienced multiple bouts of instability in his right ankle in recent years,” according to the club, and its medical team “suggested a ligament repair procedure to minimise a substantial risk of recurrence” after hurting his ankle on February 19 against Lille in Ligue 1.
Neymar stated in a tweet that his most recent injury would not discourage him.
With the emoji of praying hands, he wrote, “I’ll come back stronger.”
Neymar would undergo surgery in Doha “in the next few days,” according to Qatar-owned PSG, and it would take “three to four months before he can return to training with the team.”
With the Ligue 1 season ending on June 3 and the Champions League final, if PSG were to reach it, a week later in Istanbul, it would appearG that Neymar will not play again this season.
PSG
PSG, which is still trying to win their first Champions League title, will play Bayern Munich on Wednesday in Germany to try to make up for a 1-0 first-leg deficit.
Before the World Cup break, Neymar, who has scored 18 goals for his club in all competitions this season, was in excellent form for the French champions.
However, the 31-year-old has only scored three times in nine games since returning from Qatar, where he played for Brazil and injured the same ankle.
He did not play again in the group stage after suffering a sprain in his country’s opening match against Serbia, which they won 2-0.
The ex-Barcelona player came back in the knockout stages, but Brazil lost on penalties to Croatia in the quarterfinals despite Neymar giving Brazil the lead after extra time.
He has had injury issues at World Cups previously.
He broke a vertebra in the quarterfinal match against Colombia in 2014, leaving him out of the semifinal match, which Brazil lost 7-1.
Neymar
Since Neymar joined PSG from Barcelona in 2017 for a record-breaking 222 million euros (264 million dollars), the French club has frequently been concerned about his fitness.
He has appeared in 173 PSG games and scored 118 goals. He has, however, missed more than 100 games due to injury or suspension. He has only appeared in 49% of PSG’s Ligue 1 matches since joining the club (112 out of 228).
A broken metatarsal kept him out of the second leg of PSG’s Champions League last-16 match against Real Madrid, which they lost, in his first season there.
He didn’t play for his club again that season, and he had to get healthy quickly to play for Brazil at the World Cup in Russia that year.
He missed the second metatarsal injury the following year, which prevented him from participating in PSG’s first-round match against Manchester United.
PSG will also be without Presnel Kimpembe when they play Bayern on Wednesday. The France center back will be out for the rest of the season with an injury to his achilles.
Neymar walked onto the field on crutches on Saturday as the celebrations for Kylian Mbappe’s 201st goal, which set a club record, began.
Mbappe and Lionel Messi have combined for eight goals and four assists in three games in his absence.
