Brazil star Neymar has undergone knee surgery following the end of the season which he helped helped save Santos from relegation.
Neymar undergone an arthroscopy which is not expected to sideline him for too long, meaning his World Cup dreams remain alive.
Santos confirmed that Neymar’s surgery was successful: “The player Neymar da Silva Santos Junior underwent surgery this Monday morning (12/22) at Mater Dei Nova Lima by Dr. Rodrigo Lasmar and his team. An arthroscopy was performed to treat a lesion in the medial meniscus. The surgery was a success and the athlete is doing well. Neymar Jr. will be discharged early this afternoon and will begin his rehabilitation process, which will be coordinated by his physiotherapist Rafael Martini.”
Neymar celebrates at the end of the Brasileirao Serie A football match between Santos and Cruzeiro. (Photo by Miguel Schincariol / AFP via Getty Images)
Neymar is expected to miss around a month of action, meaning he is due back at the end of January/early February, according to ESPN.
The timeline means that Neymar could potentially be available for the derby against Corinthians in the Campeonato Paulista on January 22nd. Before that game, Santos are due to face Novorizontino, Palmeiras and Guarani
Neymar’s contract at the club is due to expire at the end of the month but it is expected he will stay and sign an extension through to the 2026 World Cup.
Sharing an update about this, Santos president Marcelo Teixeira told ESPN he expects Neymar to continue: “Neymar’s project is a project for next year’s World Cup. The conversation has always been this. He could go anywhere and wanted to come to Santos, his home. Maybe we imagined taking advantage of it more in the first half of the year and we couldn’t, but it’s nobody’s fault. He ends the season in a better way, he was decisive. Neymar’s participation continues to be important, off the field and on it. The dialogue remains. We are evaluating the numbers and extending these values. I have a positive expectation that we will reach a common denominator for his permanence.”
