In his press conference this afternoon ahead of his team’s return to Ligue 1 action tomorrow night against Strasbourg, Paris Saint-Germain manager Christophe Galtier has indicated that Lionel Messi would be returning to training next week.

His words reported by RMC Sport, the coach explained that a decision had been made to let the World Cup winner rest until January 1, and that he would return to the Camp des Loges the day after, or the next one. As a result, the forward will miss the trip to Lens on New Year’s Day.

Messi was granted ten days’ rest in the wake of his impressive World Cup campaign, having led Argentina to a long-awaited third title with a win in the final over France, the PSG man having scored seven goals along the way.

Kylian Mbappé, meanwhile, returned to training just three days after the final, in which he scored a hat-trick, while Neymar followed suit the day after, having been knocked out at the quarter-final stage with Brazil.

Paris Saint-Germain manager Christophe Galtier has provided a reassuring update on the fitness of Neymar in his press conference this afternoon, ahead of the team’s return to action against Strasbourg tomorrow night.

The Brazilian forward returned to the Camp des Loges training ground last Thursday, nearly two weeks after his country were knocked out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage. He had picked up an ankle injury in the opening game against Serbia, which saw him missing the last two group stage matches.

His words reported by RMC, Galtier indicated that his forward had spent time in Brazil surrounded by his own medical team, and that when he returned to Paris last week he was able to complete the training session without any issues.

As well as returning to match fitness, Neymar is also raring to go, according to his manager, ahead of a busy end-of-year schedule: “From a mental standpoint, he really wants to play, so that’s a good sign, it’s very good.”