Neymar to skip friendlies while training with PSG's first team

Brazilian star Neymar, who underwent surgery on his right ankle on March 10, is set to rejoin his teammates for training next week as well as flying to Japan with the rest of the PSG contingent for a pre-season tour in the Asian country, Le Parisien has learned.

Following his recovery, Neymar will be flying with the team on July 22 for their tour in Japan, starting in Osaka and then moving on to Tokyo. The forward, however, is not expected to appear in any pre-season game for now and until he's deeper into his rehabbing process.

Neymar's return to collective training is an encouraging development for new Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique. After he trained on his own last Friday, July 14, at the new training facilities in Poissy, Neymar reported no pain or discomfort.

According to sources quoted by Le Parisien, Neymar "will gradually reintegrate into collective training starting next week." The Brazil international, out for most of the second half of last season, will return to the training ground with the rest of the PSG internationals scheduled to return to Paris on July 17.

The expected returns include those of Kylian Mbappe, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Keylor Navas, Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Vitinha, Marco Verratti, Fabian Ruiz, Renato Sanches, Marco Asensio, and Milan Skriniar, all of whom played international games in the June window following the end of the season and were thus given an extra week of rest ending Monday.

Neymar has already been ruled out of PSG's first pre-season game against Le Havre on Friday, July 21, but he will gradually increase the intensity of his training over the next few days to prepare for collective sessions in the following week.

However, it is unlikely that Neymar will participate in the friendly matches against Al-Nassr on July 25, Cerezo Osaka on July 28, and Inter Milan on Aug. 1 during the team's tour in Japan.

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