Neymar to miss two weeks’ training in fresh setback

Riyadh: Neymar will miss at least two weeks’ training after suffering a muscle problem in his second game back from long-term injury, his coach at Saudi club Al Hilal said.

The Brazilian superstar lasted just 26 minutes as a second-half substitute before limping off with an apparent right hamstring strain in Monday’s 3-0 AFC Champions League Elite win over Esteghlal.

Neymar, 32, who moved from Paris Saint-Germain in a lucrative contract in 2023, was out for more than a year until last month following right knee surgery.

“Neymar, it’s not an easy case,” said Al Hilal’s Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus.

“On the medical level, his knee is healed, but then he will have problems like today, muscle problems because he hasn’t played for a long time.

“Now he has a muscle injury. I don’t know how long he won’t be able to train, two weeks at least,” he added.

Al Hilal, the reigning Saudi champions, have not registered Neymar for the current Saudi Pro League season, which began last month.

But the former Barcelona player, with a reported salary of about €100 million ($112 million) a year, is listed to play in the AFC Champions League Elite, Asia’s biggest club tournament.

“It felt like a cramp, but very strong!” he wrote on Instagram. “I’ll do some tests and hope it’s nothing more serious.

“It’s normal for this to happen after one year, the doctors already warned me, so I have to take care and play more minutes.”