Brazil's Neymar Replaced by Philippe Coutinho vs. Nigeria with Apparent Injury

Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar suffered an injury on Sunday which forced him out of Brazil's friendly against Nigeria in Singapore.

As Brazilian social media reported, he had to be replaced by Philippe Coutinho early in the fixture at the National Stadium:

Per AS, it looked like a hamstring problem:

Throughout the summer transfer window, Neymar was strongly linked with a return to former club Barcelona, although no deal was made.

Neymar moved to Paris in the summer of 2017 for a world-record €222 million (£198 million) fee, with the Ligue 1 club hopeful of him helping them become a dominant force in European football. While Neymar has performed well when he's been on the field for PSG, they've failed to make strides in the UEFA Champions League to match the domestic stranglehold they have established.

In the previous two campaigns, they've been eliminated at the last-16 stage in Europe. Crucially, Neymar has suffered injury issues that have ruled him out of key matches in both of those campaigns. He also missed the summer's Copa America because of an injury layoff.

Although PSG still have the brilliance of Kylian Mbappe, Mauro Icardi and Edinson Cavani to call on, Neymar knits things together in the final third. He is impossible to fully replace, but getting by without Neymar is something manager Thomas Tuchel has become all too familiar with.