Al-Hilal suffer MAJOR Neymar blow days after €90m transfer
Cameron Smith
- 20 Aug 2023 14:51 BST
- 3 min read
Neymar has already been involved in his first controversy at Al-Hilal, despite only joining the Saudi Pro League side from Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
The forward has been called up by the Brazil national team for their World Cup qualifying fixtures against Bolivia and Peru in the September international break, something that has angered Al-Hilal boss Jorge Jesus.
READ MORE: Saudi Pro League summer transfers 2023: All the Done Deals
Neymar has not played a competitive game since February due to an ankle injury, and his lay-off may extend into September, according to Jesus.
The Brazilian was unveiled in front of 60,000 fans at the King Fahd International Stadium on Saturday, but Al-Hilal fans may have to wait for another month to see their new signing in action.
READ MORE: PSG close to signing €100 million Neymar replacement
Neymar’s injury controversy
Jesus told reporters at Neymar’s unveiling event, via FootMercato: “Neymar is an innovative and creative player, he will help us to improve, but he has a slight injury now and I don’t know when he will return. Maybe he will be ready in mid-September.”
The Al-Hilal manager went on to slam Brazil interim coach Fernando Diniz for including Neymar in Brazil’s squad for games against Bolivia and Peru. “I don't know why the Brazilian team called him up, he's injured,” Jesus said.
“Maybe they will force him to go to Brazil. He won't play because he can't play. He can't train already. Today, I see no reason for his departure to Brazil. He doesn't train, how could he play? He must recover muscularly to start playing.”
Neymar will be unavailable for Al-Hilal’s fixture against Al-Raed on Thursday, 24 August, but fellow new signing Yassine Bounou, more commonly known as Bono, and Aleksandar Mitrovic could make their Al-Hilal debuts after their moves from Sevilla and Fulham, respectively.
Al-Hilal have broke the Saudi Pro League transfer record three times this summer and have spent €40 million or more on five players this window: Neymar (€90m), Malcolm (€60m), Ruben Neves (€55m), and Mitrovic (€52.5m).
