Neymar

The Brazil international joined PSG from Barcelona in a world-record €222million move two years ago and, although he has generally performed well for the French champions when fit, he has been accused of doing little to dampen repeated links with a return to Camp Nou.

Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu was reported to have told key players he was confident of securing Neymar's return and last week he confirmed talks were held between the two clubs.

The 27-year-old returns for his national side after missing out on selection for the 2019 Copa America through injury.

Neymar ruptured ligaments in his ankle in a pre-tournament friendly against Qatar on June 5 and has not featured for club or country since, but Brazil coped well in his absence as they lifted the trophy on home soil.

A charge has been brought against the Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil forward by an unidentified woman following an incident in the French capital on May 15.

Neymar's father insists his son is not guilty of any wrongdoing and claims to "have proof that nothing happened".

The alleged victim took her case to a police station in Sao Paulo that specialises in women's defence on May 31.

The woman claims she met Neymar after exchanging messages on Instagram and a friend of the player arranged for her to travel to France.

The forward is expected to be sidelined for another seven weeks with the metatarsal injury he sustained in PSG's Coupe de France clash with Strasbourg on January 23.

In his absence, the French champions have won all but one of their subsequent matches with Kylian Mbappe leading the line in attack while both Neymar and Edinson Cavani recover from injuries.

A statement on the club's official website said: "Neymar Jr will continue treatment in Brazil under the supervision of the Paris Saint-Germain medical department.

The Paris Saint-Germain star left Russia having scored two goals in five games as Brazil failed to play their best football, despite topping Group E without losing a match and then beating Mexico 2-0 in the round of 16.

Headlines in the aftermath of the victory over Mexico focused on Neymar's theatrical reaction to challenges made on him rather than his performance, and he was powerless to stop Brazil losing 2-1 to Belgium in the last eight.

Neymar has been criticised for his theatrics in Russia, but the forward has netted twice and provided an assist in four games.

The Paris Saint-Germain star only made his return from injury last month and Willian feels Neymar is only getting better at the showpiece event.

"All of us know how important he [Neymar] is for our team and what his level of quality is," Willian said Wednesday.

"He has been playing better one game after the other as well. Our plan is to continue evolving, improving, until we get to the final if we are fortunate enough.

Neymar, who only returned from a fractured metatarsal last month, looked close to his best on Monday when Brazil beat Mexico 2-0 to reach the quarter-finals in Russia.

Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar was often at the centre of things, as he scored and played a key role in Roberto Firmino getting the second.

But he also received criticism for what Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio described as "acting" when Miguel Layun appeared to step on his ankle.

However, Silva does not believe rough treatment is anything new for Neymar.

Following a World Cup weekend which saw Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo bow out of the competition within a few hours of each other, the Selecao's talisman avoided befalling the same fate by scoring one and assisting the other in Monday's 2-0 win over Mexico in Samara.

The other two members of football's megastar fraternity had been confined to peripheral figures as Argentina and Portugal were undone by France and Uruguay respectively - Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani stealing the limelight to perhaps signal the end of Messi and Ronaldo's duopoly.

PSG fell behind after just 56 seconds to Moussa Dembele's shock goal for the Scottish side, but Emery's star-studded outfit bounced back in magnificent style to race into a 4-1 half-time lead.

Neymar scored the first two goals before Cavani's 150th for the club and a fourth from Kylian Mbappe effectively ended the game as a contest.

Ronaldo claimed the prize ahead of Messi for the second straight year, with Neymar third – a spot Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann took in 2016.

Neymar, 25, was delighted to be considered in the same group as Real Madrid's Ronaldo and Barcelona star Messi, widely labelled two players who will go down as all-time greats.

"Congratulations to Cristiano. He deserves it and he has merit to win it," the Brazil international said.

"He is making history and that has to be respected. Both he and Messi are two figures in world football.