Neymar comments on latest injury as comeback target set later than expected

Paris Saint-Germain have already confirmed they will be without record signing Neymar until at least 2022, but the latest comments from the forward suggest the wait could be even longer.

The Brazil international sustained ankle ligament damage towards the end of PSG's Ligue 1 win at Saint-Etienne on Sunday, leaving the field on a stretcher before later being spotted on crutches.

The initial assessment from the club suggested a spell of between six and eight weeks on the sidelines for the former Barcelona man, ruling him out until at least the start of the new year.

Neymar doesn't appear to be quite as optimistic about the speed of his recovery, though, with the 29-year-old making his first public comments since the injury.

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"Let's recover, unfortunately these setbacks are part of an athlete's life," Neymar wrote on Instagram as he begins his recovery.

"Now you have to raise your head and move on. I will come back better and stronger."

Less than 10 minutes were left on the clock when Neymar went to ground following a challenge from Saint-Etienne's Yvann Macon, and it sounds like fans should not make plans for him to return right away in the new year.

According to the Ligue 1 website, Neymar is targeting the last 16 of the Champions League for his return to action.

That would mean a return in February, rather than the hoped-for January date, and leave the club sweating on his availability for a trip to reigning champions Lille on February 6.

PSG dropped points in their first game without Neymar on Wednesday, drawing 0-0 with Nice at the Parc des Princes.

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Paris Saint-Germain are already certain to be without Neymar for their final Champions League group game, at home to Club Brugge.

Mauricio Pochettino's side are already assured of their place in the last 16 of the competition, and cannot catch group leaders Manchester City.

Their potential opponents in the first knockout round include Bayern Munich, who beat them in the 2020 final, and a Manchester United side who eliminated them from the competition one year earlier.

Neymar had only scored three league goals this season - having a fourth chalked off for offside at Saint-Etienne - before his injury.

However, the sight of the Brazilian on the sidelines is a familiar one, and PSG will hope the timing of the setback means he is fully recovered in time for European knockout football after missing big games in the Champions League in recent years.

One of those notable absences came in 2019, when a PSG side without Neymar surrendered a two-goal first-leg advantage to lose to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United and bow out of the competition early.