PSG and France doctors explain why Brazil star Neymar has suffered so many injuries in recent years

According to French newspaper L’Équipe, Paris Saint-Germain splashed out €220 million ($241.21 million) on Neymar in 2017 despite him having a broken foot at the time. The Brazilian became the most expensive soccer player of all time when he moved from Barcelona to the Ligue 1 giants, who sold him for €90 million ($97.79 million) to Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal in August. The 32-year-old’s six seasons in France were hampered by a number of serious injuries.

Initial Neymar foot injury required but didn’t get surgery

L’Équipe believe that initial foot injury, a stress fracture in the fifth metatarsal, was the cause of a number of recurring issues the attacker suffered in subsequent years. Neymar again fractured his fifth metatarsal in both 2018 and 2019, missing Champions League round-of-16 defeats to Real Madrid and Manchester United in consecutive years.

PSG’s team doctor at the time, Éric Rolland, who now works for fellow French club Rennes, explained to L’Équipe he had detected the former Barça man’s injury and believed surgery was required. However, the fanfare surrounding the world record signing put pressure on him to play on rather than sit in the treatment room for several months immediately after joining.

Blaming lifestyle for injuries “not fair or accurate”

Another doctor, who works for the French national team but has opted not to reveal his identity, also explained the reasons for Neymar’s fitness struggles in Paris. “There are many reasons (for Neymar repeatedly injuring the same bone). There is his morphology, his physical characteristics. His style of play, with his dribbling and dynamic movement, is also an explanation. Then, if we look closely at his injuries to the fifth metatarsal (after a tackle from Marseille’s Bouna Sarr in 2018 and after three tackles by Moataz Zemzemi of Strasbourg in 2019), they are trauma injuries. On both occasions, he was injured after tackles that knocked him off-balance. He has not suffered a succession of muscle problems, so to say these injuries are related to his lifestyle is not fair or accurate,” he declared.

Neymar, who underwent surgery earlier this year after injuring his right foot again, is now recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament tear, which means his season with Al Hilal is all but over after only five games for his new club.

Neymar unable to lead PSG to Champions League

Brazil’s all-time top scorer was regularly criticised for his perceived lifestyle and underwhelming performances in Paris after failing to lead PSG to their first ever Champions League title. They reached the final in 2020 but were defeated by Bayern Munich in Lisbon.

Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, insist that while they did detect Neymar’s initial foot injury, it was not the main reason for him spending so much time on the sidelines during his six years in the French capital.