Bad news for Neymar Jr! A setback in his recovery prevents him from returning to the pitch

Neymar Jr has received the worst of news, at least as far as his sporting life is concerned. The 32-year-old striker will have to postpone his return to the pitch, just when he had hopes of playing again at the end of September. This was reported by Al-Hilal in a statement issued on September 8.

The Brazilian tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, where his meniscus was affected in the match between Uruguay and Brazil in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. This happened on October 17, 2023, so the striker had to undergo surgery. The person in charge of his surgery was his most trusted doctor, Rodrigo Lasmar, who works with the 'Seleçao'. But no doctor is a magician, so even though the intervention was successful and Neymar has been doing everything possible to return to the field of play, his body has decided otherwise.

Neymar will need at least two more months of recovery

Neymar underwent medical tests in recent days to determine how his recovery was going, but these were not positive. Al-Hilal issued a statement in which they reported that their player will need at least two more months of rehabilitation before competing again. This means that he will be left out of the list of registered players for this season in the Saudi Pro League.

The coach, Jorge Jesus, has decided to register him only in the Asian Champions League, with the aim that when he returns he will do so at the best level. However, this will force the team to say goodbye to one of its players, since they can only register 10 foreigners in this competition and two of these places must be for players born after 2003. So they will have to choose between Bono, Koulibaly, Cancelo, Ruben Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom, Mitrovic and Lodi.

Without a doubt, it was a first year to forget for the Brazilian star in Saudi Arabia. His signing was made official on August 15, 2023, after Neymar decided to leave PSG for a transfer fee of 80 million euros. He only played 5 games with Al-Hilal before getting injured, where he contributed one goal and two assists. Despite this, the team did not notice his absence and won the league, the Cup and the Super Cup. The national team does long for his return, as they are not having a good time, especially after their disappointing Copa América. For now, they will have to continue without him, hoping that he will return soon.