Neymar celebrates his first training session on his return to work at Al Hilal: ‘Now it’s just joy’
Striker Neymar is counting down to return to the pitch after more than a year without playing due to a serious knee injury. On his Instagram account, the player published photos of his first training with the Al Hilal squad and celebrated the new stage of his recovery.
“I went back! Happy to be back in the group… now it’s just joy“, wrote the number 10 in the publication. Between the surgery and the first training session with the rest of the Al Hilal squad, the Brazilian experienced ups and downs in his recovery and had to postpone his projected return for the Saudi team a few times.
With the physical part more adjusted, attention was focused on the possible dates for the Brazilian’s return to the team. According to Jorge Jesus himself, coach of Al Hilal, this moment will only happen in 2025. In addition to the medical factor, which is still treated with caution by the club, despite the positive progress, the team needs to deal with a bureaucratic issue to count on Neymar in the Saudi league.
This is because Al Hilal has a maximum number of foreigners to be registered in the competition. To have Neymar on the field, the club would need to give up one of the names they have in their squad from outside Saudi Arabia. This should happen from January, when one or more names from outside the country must be negotiated by the club.
“Neymar is an important player for Al Hilal and the Saudi league in general. I cannot, however, specify a return date for him“, said Jorge Jesus in a press conference for the team.
In 2024, the only games that Neymar can be involved in are the Asian Champions League, which has enough space for the Brazilian striker to register. For the Brazilian team, there are still commitments for the World Cup qualifiers in the months of November and December. But, for now, nothing is projected for Dorival Júnior to count on Neymar in these calls.
