Neymar to undergo surgery: PSG star's injury history

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star Neymar is set to undergo surgery in Qatar, which will be led by a renowned British specialist.

Neymar's surgery will take place at Doha's Aspetar hospital and he will be operated on at the sports medicine clinic led by British orthopaedic surgeon James Calder, reported Arab News.

Neymar's surgery details

"Aspetar's expert ankle surgeon, Professor Pieter D'Hooghe and renowned ankle surgeon Professor Calder from London will perform the surgery," the clinic said in a statement.

Neymar will take at least four months before returning to training with the team, PSG said in an official release.

Earlier, PSG confirmed that Neymar was ruled out of the remainder of the 2022-23 season. He was stretchered off with an injured right ankle during PSG's 4-3 home Ligue 1 win over Lille on Feb. 19.

"Neymar Jr has sustained a number of instances of instability in his right ankle in recent years. Following his latest sprain on Feb. 20, the Paris Saint-Germain medical staff recommended a ligament repair operation to avoid a major risk of recurrence. All the experts consulted have confirmed this necessity," PSG's statement read further.

It is just a shame that Neymar's season has been cut short, considering he had been doing well for PSG, who were eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday. The Brazilian forward netted 18 goals and provided 17 assists in 29 appearances for PSG in all competitions in the ongoing campaign.

"I'll come back stronger," Neymar wrote in a tweet.

The former FC Barcelona star was previously treated at Aspetar, with Calder involved, in January 2019. Neymar has suffered a number of injury issues with his right foot over the past few years.

Just last year, he missed two of Brazil's group games at the Qatar World Cup after picking up an ankle injury in his country's 2-0 win over Serbia in their campaign opener. The Brazilian striker also missed the 2019 Copa America after suffering torn ligaments in his right ankle and was out for several weeks in 2021 with a similar injury.

Neymar's injury history

Neymar moved from Barcelona to PSG ahead of the 2017-18 season at a record transfer fee of £198 million. The 31-year-old forward, who is into his sixth season at Parc des Princes, has already suffered ankle problems on four different occasions over the years, including the time when he was injured while on international duty at the World Cup.

Interestingly, Neymar's first injury at Barcelona was also an ankle issue that saw him miss around 10 competitive matches in the 2013-14 campaign, his maiden season with the Catalans.

Neymar would have missed at least 45 games in his senior career due to his persistent ankle problems, including the upcoming 15 fixtures that he is going to miss for PSG in the 2022-23 campaign. The Brazilian forward has been quite an injury-prone player, especially during his time at PSG as he has missed over 100 competitive matches due to various injuries since his arrival in 2017.

While PSG are out of the Champions League, they are still eight points clear at the top of the Ligue 1 table. One of the key reasons behind their dominance in the French league this season has been Neymar's fiery form. Before injuring himself against Lille last month, he scored 13 goals and provided 11 assists in 20 Ligue 1 matches for PSG.

Meanwhile, reacting to Neymar being ruled out of the season, PSG head coach Christophe Galtier said Neymar's absence would be a big loss.

"He is one of the top scorers and assists providers in Ligue 1, so he is a big loss. Without Neymar, we may have two midfielders and three attackers or three midfielders and two attackers. There are players who can get in behind from all sorts of different positions," he told reporters.