The Brazilian striker is due for ankle surgery soon, and the duration of his absence is estimated at between three and four months.
by IM with AFP
© FRANCK FIFE / AFP
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Un package that hurts. PSG will not be able to count on Neymar for their shock return against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. The Brazilian striker, hit in the right ankle on February 19 in Ligue 1 against Lille, will have to have surgery. The operation will take place “in the coming days” in Doha. Neymar will be absent from the field for “three to four months”, the Parisian club announced on Monday. This diagnosis puts an end to his season, according to the club, while PSG’s last match in Ligue 1 is scheduled for June 3.
When he ended up on the ground against Lille, the PSG medical staff immediately became very worried. Neymar “has presented several episodes of instability of the right ankle in recent years” and “the medical staff of Paris Saint-Germain recommended a ligament repair operation, in order to avoid a major risk of recurrence”, specified in a communicated the club of the capital.
The Brazilian had been hit in the same right ankle in the first match of the seleçao at the 2022 World Cup against Serbia, before returning only for the round of 16.
READ ALSOPSG: Neymar suffers from a sprain with “ligament damage”
An injury that brings back bad memories for PSG…
This long unavailability of Neymar brings back bad memories at PSG, which has already been often deprived of the Brazilian in the past due to injury before major deadlines and which plays a large part of its season Wednesday in the knockout stages of the Champions League on the lawn of Bayern Munich.
He had thus injured his foot before a round of 16 return of the Champions League against Real Madrid in 2018. In 2019, “Ney” had missed the round of 16 of C1 against Manchester United and, in 2021, he had injured again, in the left adductor, before a duel against his former club, FC Barcelona, still at this stage of the competition. “To tell you that Ney’s absence is trivial, no. He is one of the best passers in Ligue 1 and it is still a detrimental absence for us,” PSG coach Christophe Galtier said of the Brazilian on Friday.
Neymar had had an excellent first part of the season with the World Cup in sight, before seeing his trajectory shattered in Qatar. After the immense disappointment felt following the elimination of Brazil in the quarter-finals against Croatia, he appeared much less successful on Ligue 1 pitches and less physically sovereign before being seriously injured against Lille.