Of the four long-term injured PSG players, only Neymar is expected to be part of PSG’s summer tour of Japan which is set to start on July 22. The Brazilian is the closest to returning to group training.
In Paris Saint-Germain, the infirmary is a recurring topic and the number of infected people is increasing on a regular basis. At the start of the season, the club is still dealing with injuries from last season and no less than four players recovering from operations or injuries that meant he wasn’t out for long. Of those four, Neymar has been the closest to training, having undergone ankle surgery in early March and nearing completion of his return protocol.
The Brazilian certainly trains away from the group, but with the ball and on the pitch, as the club showed on Friday on social networks. The impressive form is still far away after five months of absence, but Le Parisien newspaper indicated the possibility of a return to group training during the next week. As a result of this close return with the rest of the group, Neymar should be part of the tour in Japan that starts on July 22 and will end in early August. On site, he will not play friendlies but will gradually return to 100% with his partners.
That will not be the case for three other long-term injured Nuno Mendes, Presnel Kimpembe and Nordi Mukele. The 2018 world champion still has several weeks of indoor work ahead of him while Mukele sees the end of the tunnel with sessions outdoors and with the ball. For the first, a return to competition is not imagined before the fall, while the second targets September.
On the other hand, the case of Nuno Mendes is very mysterious. The young Portuguese injured his thigh in late April but resumed racing in early June ahead of the final game of the season against Clermont. A month and a half later, he still hasn’t been training with the group and L’Equipe announces he won’t be traveling to Japan to continue his recovery. PSG has not communicated in any way about his case, but the 21-year-old Portuguese is anyway struggling to get rid of the muscle problems that have marred his 2022/23 season.
