Barcelona No return until September 8 after permission from Luis Enrique

By the time that he returns to Barcelona, it will 107 days, or three and a half months, since Neymar was there last.

The date pencilled in for his return is September 8, after coach Luis Enrique granted him special permission to delay his homecoming and use the time to relax.

May 23, when the Catalans celebrated winning the cup final, was the last day that the Brazilian had been at the club's facilities.

He began his holiday the next day, going from Ibiza to Las Vegas and passing through New York.

A few charity matches aside, Neymar then completely disengaged and spent a few weeks in Brazil before preparing for work with the Olympic team.

Vegas Una foto publicada por Nj neymarjr (@neymarjr) el 11 de Jun de 2016 a la(s) 11:33 PDT

In his absence, his contract with the club was renewed until 2021 after an almost endless soap opera.

After agreeing with Barcelona that he would not participate in the Copa America Centenario, he eventually met up with his Brazilian teammates on July 18 - after a mega vacation of eight weeks!

He was expected to return to his club this week but Enrique's permission to allow him to stay in Brazil to face Ecuador in a World Cup qualifier on September 1, and then to Colombia on September 7, means that the earliest he can return to Spain is on Thursday 8.

That's only two days before the Barcelona v Alaves fixture.