Before France transfer: PSG apparently hid Neymar’s serious injury

Neymar has struggled with injuries for years – Photo: Maciej Rogowski Photo / Shutterstock.com

To date, the €222 million transfer from Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 is the most expensive transfer in football history. Back then, PSG really wanted to bring a superstar to the French capital – so much so that they apparently even hid a serious injury.

Before a transfer takes place, extensive examinations usually take place to ensure that the player is fit to play. The so-called medical check has often resulted in a transfer ultimately failing because a professional had an injury that was too serious for the receiving club.

PSG apparently ignored doctors’ advice

One would think that the more expensive the transfer, the more closely the clubs pay attention to the player’s condition. This doesn’t seem to have been taken too seriously with the transfer of Neymar.

In 2017, the Brazilian moved from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for a record fee of 222 million euros. In this case, PSG clearly disregarded normal practice. At least the sports newspaper “L’Équipe” reports that the Brazilian was diagnosed with a serious foot injury at the time.

Neymar was recently injured while playing for the Brazilian national team – Photo: A.RICARDO / Shutterstock.com

Accordingly, the medical department diagnosed a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal bone in the right foot. An injury that, according to the doctors, would have required immediate surgery. The club management rejected this, they say.

According to “L’Équipe”, the club did not want to give the impression that they had spent a record sum on an injured player who would be out for several months. Apparently they didn’t want to expose themselves to this kind of exposure. The PSG bosses probably hoped that the injury would heal and not get any worse.

Neymar torn cruciate ligament after move to Saudi

But the bosses were wrong in this assessment. At the beginning of 2018, Neymar injured his injured foot and was out for several months. Eleven months later the same bone broke again. It’s quite possible that all of this could have been prevented.

The 31-year-old is now playing in Saudi Arabia for Al-Hilal, where he moved in the summer for 90 million euros. However, he recently tore his cruciate ligament and is expected to be out until mid-2024. He has played five games for the Saudi club so far (one goal, one assist).

Sources used

The team