Neymar Reportedly to Change Diet in Order to Rediscover Barcelona Form

Barcelona's Neymar is reportedly set to take advantage of the international break and change his diet in order to return his best form.

The 23-year-old will play no part in Brazil's upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Venezuela as he is currently serving an international suspension.

He will use the break from play—Barca's next match is on October 17—to put in additional work on his fitness and improve his diet, per Ignasi Oliva of Goal:

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[Neymar] will follow a very specific plan over the coming days which will include work at the club’s training ground and also at his own home. He has given orders to his personal chef to prepare a more balanced diet on the back of advice from the specialist nutritionists who work at Barcelona, similarly to how Messi tinkered with his eating habits after the World Cup last year.

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Neymar has hardly made a poor start to the season—he has scored four goals in six La Liga games, per WhoScored.com—but he is not performing at quite the level he was in 2014-15.

With Lionel Messi out with a long-term injury, many are expecting Neymar to step into the Argentinian's boots.

However, he could not prevent Luis Enrique's side going down 2-1 to Sevilla on Saturday in La Liga despite putting in a fine display, per ESPN FC's Lee Roden:

Per Oliva, a bout of mumps ruled Neymar out of action in pre-season, and he was rushed back into the starting lineup in the second match of the new La Liga term.

Now that he has almost two weeks available to him without a competitive match to play in, Neymar has decided to make the most of it.

Former Brazil international Juninho Pernambucano has warned Neymar to not "obsess over filling Messi's boots," per Spanish outlet Marca.

This is undoubtedly good advice as it is impossible for Neymar to provide Barca with all that Messi does.

However, the Brazilian star has an abundance of his own talent to offer, and he is clearly hoping that a change of diet and additional training in the coming days can help him return to his best form.

Barcelona remain a force to be reckoned with even without Messi, and Neymar's suspension from Brazil duty can only help them in the long run.