World Cup hopeful Neymar is in danger of missing Santos’ last three league games of the season because of a knee injury that will likely require arthroscopic surgery at the end of the season, sources told ESPN.
The Brazilian forward sat out Monday’s 1-1 league draw at Internacional as a precaution after experiencing pain in his left knee in the clash with Mirassol on Nov. 19th.
According to sources, tests have shown that Neymar, 33, has a left meniscus injury.
Sources said the injury, while not serious, will require arthroscopic surgery, for which the estimated recover is three weeks. That would mean the former Barcelona star would miss the season’s last three matches against Sport (home), Juventude (away), and Cruzeiro (home).
At present, the sources said the club will wait until the end of the season to do it and explore alternative treatment options for the rest of the season with the goal of getting him back on the pitch temporarily.
Neymar had surgery on his left knee to reconstruct an ACL tear and a torn meniscus two years ago.
Relegation-threatened Santos have not confirmed Neymar’s latest injury, his fourth fitness setback since he returned to his boyhood club in January.
However, club president Marcelo Teixeira said the player underwent tests on Tuesday and said Santos’ medical team is working against the clock to see if he can feature in Friday’s league game against Sport. The club has made no formal announcement of Neymar’s status.
“He had an exam today in São Paulo,” Teixeira said. “I spoke with the medical department and they are studying a way for him to be in this game [Sport]. The doctor himself hasn’t spoken to Neymar yet, he will speak to him tomorrow.
“There will be a meeting tomorrow morning to assess the situation. We will investigate how we can delay whatever needs to be done, if anything, so that we can still use Neymar in the Brazilian Championship.”
Santos are in the drop zone, one place and one point adrift of safety with three games remaining.
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Fitness issues have prevented Neymar from playing regularly at Santos, while for Brazil, he has not featured since Oct. 2023, when he sustained an ACL injury.
Neymar, Brazil’s all-time leading scorer, is hopeful of playing in his fourth World Cup in 2026. Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti recently said that Neymar needs to be in good physical condition to be considered for selection.
Information from Adriana Garcia was used in this report.
