As the transfer tussle bewteen Barcelona and Real Madrid for wantaway PSG star Neymar rumbles inexorably on, doctors have once again warned that the Brazil forward’s foot injury could be worse than feared and there is the possibility of further time out if he “plays games at the highest level.”

Barcelona consulted specialists last month over the metatarsal injury that has dogged Neymar over the past 18 months and were told that the PSG player may have pseudoarthrosis, or nonunion, in the affected toe, which means that the wound has not healed properly and a bone graft may be the only option to fully cure the issue.

Now, PSG’s medical staff have told Le Parisien that they fear Neymar’s toe is still not healed and that they suspect the treatment he has been undergoing in Brazil has not been thorough enough.

Neymar's Brazil treatment "not ideal" for curing his injury

Neymar has suffered two injuries in the same foot since February 2018, when he fractured a metatarsal in a Ligue 1 game against Olympique Marseille. That injury ruled him out for most of the remainder of the season. In 2019, he broke the same bone and spent four months on the sidelines, eventually missing out on the Copa América after suffering an ankle sprain that the experts consulted by Barça suspect may have been a cover story to hide another fracture of the same bone.

The PSG doctors consulted by Le Parisien have warned that “the player’s injury could reoccur if he plays games at the highest level,” adding that “there are many doubts surrounding the treatment he received in Brazil due to the methods used not being ideal in terms of curing this type of injury.”

Leonardo: Neymar completely healed

PSG's sporting director Leonardo, in an interview with RMC Sports, denied the reports in Le Parisien and said that Neymar had fully recovered from the injury.