Sources: Neymar may miss Santos’ key run

World Cup hopeful Neymar is in danger of missing Santos‘ last three league games of the season because of a knee injury, sources told ESPN.

The Brazilian forward sat out Monday’s 1-1 league draw at Internacional as a precaution after experiencing pain in his left knee in the clash with Mirassol on Nov. 19th.

According to sources, tests have shown that Neymar, 33, has a left meniscus injury.

He had surgery on his left knee to reconstruct an ACL tear and a torn meniscus two years ago.

Relegation-threatened Santos have not confirmed Neymar’s latest injury, his fourth fitness setback since he returned to his boyhood club in January.

However, club president Marcelo Teixeira revealed the player underwent tests on Tuesday and said Santos’ medical team is working against the clock to see if he can feature in Friday’s league game against Sport.

“He had an exam today in São Paulo,” Teixeira said. “I spoke with the medical department and they are studying a way for him to be in this game [Sport]. The doctor himself hasn’t spoken to Neymar yet, he will speak to him tomorrow.

“There will be a meeting tomorrow morning to assess the situation. We will investigate how we can delay whatever needs to be done, if anything, so that we can still use Neymar in the Brazilian Championship.”

Santos are in the drop zone, one place and one point adrift of safety with three games remaining.

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Fitness issues have prevented Neymar from playing regularly at Santos, while for Brazil, he has not featured since Oct. 2023, when he sustained an ACL injury.

Neymar, Brazil’s all-time leading scorer, is hopeful of playing in his fourth World Cup in 2026. Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti recently said that Neymar needs to be in good physical condition to be considered for selection.

Information from Adriana Garcia was used in this report.