Neymar to return in two, three weeks

Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar, who is convalescing in Brazil after surgery on his injured right foot, will be back "in two to three weeks," the club's coach Unai Emery said on Friday. "I spoke with him this week, he's good, relaxed," Emery said. Emery was speaking in Bordeaux where PSG, shorn of their biggest star, face Monaco on Saturday in the French League Cup final.

? Looks like Neymar will be back soon. pic.twitter.com/WmSZdtsbJs

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 30, 2018

"We spoke about the final," Emery said. "He's going to follow the game." Neymar, who is crucial to Brazil's hopes at the World Cup which starts in Russia on June 14, was hurt on February 25 against Marseille and returned to Brazil for treatment. He missed the second-leg defeat to Real Madrid on March 6, which eliminated PSG from the Champions League.

Neymar will return to Paris in around two to three weeks, according to head coach Unai Emeryhttps://t.co/vA2M6QYtrR pic.twitter.com/ap8ufMO3vB

— Goal (@goal) March 30, 2018

Brazil's national team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar, performed  surgery on March 3 and then estimated that Neymar would be out for "two-and-a-half to three months." That time frame would have meant Neymar's PSG season was over. But for the striker, who was injured during the last World Cup and missed Brazil's traumatic 7-1 semi-final loss to Germany, the objective was to be fully fit for this year's competition. PSG and the Brazilian football federation plan to assess Neymar's health again in mid-April.

Neymar is continuing his recovery from injury in Brazil... ?#PSG head coach Unai Emery expects to have the star forward back in a fortnight. pic.twitter.com/W4Rnerg27Y

— Omnisport (@OmnisportNews) March 31, 2018

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi visited Neymar's bedside in Brazil in mid-March, partly to quash rumours that the star would be leaving Paris a year after his high-profile arrival for a world-record 222m euros ($264m) last summer. "The doctors aren't yet in a position to say exactly when he will return," Al-Khelaifi said at the time. On Friday, Monaco defender Kamil Glik told a press conference that PSG will miss Neymar "but that doesn't change much for us." "There are other top-quality players," Glik said. "We know what we have to do to win this trophy."