“One more day of work, one less day of waiting” - Neymar Jr makes social media post as he closes in on return from long-term injury
Al-Hilal striker Neymar is nearing a return from the ligament injury he sustained while on Brazil duty in October last year. The 32-year-old arrived at the Saudi Pro League giants last summer after six seasons at PSG.
Neymar made a slow start to life at the reigning Saudi Pro League champions -scoring once and assisting thrice in five games across competitions - before suffering his season-ending injury while on international duty.
The 2014-15 UEFA Champions League winner tore his ligament in a 2-0 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying defeat at Uruguay in October and has been out of action since then.
However, ahead of the start of the new season, Neymar has provided a heartening update of working out at the gym, suggesting that a return is imminent. He captioned his Instagram post (as translated from Portuguese):
"Another day of work, one less day of waiting"
Meanwhile, there have been rumours of the Brazilian linking up with his former Barcelona and PSG teammate Lionel Messi at Inter Miami. However, Neymar has rubbished those reports (as per GOAL) as he looks to get going in right earnest at his current club.
Despite the Brazilian's absence, Al-Hilal won the Saudi Pro League title last season without dropping a game, finishing a whopping 14 points in front of second-placed Al-Nassr.
How Neymar fared for PSG
Neymar enjoyed a successful six-season stay at PSG since arriving from Barcelona in the summer of 2017 on a reported world-record transfer of €220 million.
Although he missed a lot of games due to injury, the Brazilian left a mark when he was fit and available to play. In 173 games across competitions, Neymar contributed 118 goals and 77 assists.
During his stay at the Parc des Princes, he won five Ligue 1 titles among a plethora of other domestic honours. However, he couldn't lead the French capital side to European glory, with the Parisians going down by a solitary goal to treble-winning Bayern Munich in the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League final.