Neymar was left out of Paris Saint-Germain’s third consecutive Ligue 1 match on Sunday as his employers await a resolution to the Brazilian’s protracted transfer saga.
Neymar was declared fit to play for the first time since injuring his ankle in May by PSG coach Thomas Tuchel on the eve of Toulouse’s visit to the Parc des Princes.
But the club’s Qatari owners and sporting director Leonardo have sidelined him as the uncertainty over his future continues to dominate their early season landscape.
In the squad list published ahead of the 1900 GMT kick-off Neymar was marked down as “absent”.
The 27-year-old wants a return to Spain, to his former club Barca who sold him to the French champions for a world record 222 million euros ($264 million at the time) in 2017.
Or to Real Madrid, who reportedly had a 100 million euros bid plus players rejected this week.
The European transfer window closes next Saturday. Whether Neymar figures in PSG’s fourth league outing the day before at Metz could be up to the negotiators.
