Neymar, who has declared his intention to stay at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) despite numerous transfer rumors, will not be able to play alongside Lee Kang-in until at least September.
PSG announced their 27-man roster for their preseason friendly against Le Havre on Tuesday (Aug. 20). While Kylian Mbappe, who is in the midst of a contract dispute with Lee, and mainstays Marco Verratti, Marcinho, and Gianluigi Donnarumma are all included, Neymar is not.
The reason: injury. Neymar has been rehabbing since being ruled out for the season with an ankle injury in February. However, he has reportedly not yet fully recovered from his medical tests since returning to PSG. Neymar is not expected to return until at least September.
Naturally, he won’t be able to participate in the Asia Tour. “PSG coach Luis Enrique will decide on the roster for the Asia tour after the game against Le Havre,” according to France’s RMC Sport. There is no way that Neymar, who wasn’t even on the roster for the Le Havre game, will be on the roster for the Asia tour.
This is disappointing news for fans who were hoping to see Lee and Neymar play together.
PSG will play Al Nasr in Japan on May 25, Cerezo Osaka on May 28, and Inter Milan on May 1. On the third, they are in talks to host K League 1 side Jeonbuk Hyundai for a Coupang Play series. However, Neymar is likely to miss all of these games.
He is training normally. Neymar has been featured in training videos on PSG’s YouTube channel. He’s been seen joking around with Lee Kang-in and training with Mbappe and Verratti. For now, however, he’s still working out individually as part of PSG’s rehabilitation protocol. The club wants to wait until he is fully recovered to protect Neymar, who has been prone to injuries since joining PSG.
From September onwards, we should see Neymar and Lee working together as a team. Neymar, who has been rumored to be on his way to the Premier League, has called for a move to PSG.
According to France’s RMC Sport, Neymar told Brazilian YouTuber Casimiro Miguel in June that he wants to stay at PSG “even if the fans boo me.” 메이저사이트
“I want to play for PSG this season, I have a contract with PSG,” Neymar said. Even if the fans don’t love me, I’m always calm. I want to stay at PSG, whether there is love or not.”
Neymar also said he wants to play at the 2026 World Cup if he can stay at PSG. “I went through a very painful and difficult process in recent months after my ankle surgery,” said Neymar, who admitted: “It was the same at the World Cup. I considered retiring. Not because of the pain of defeat, but because I didn’t want to see my family suffer. But now I want to give my country a sixth World Cup,” he declared.