Tuchel: I hug Neymar or I write to him

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Thomas Tuchel spoke about his close relationship with Neymar, saying he was in regular contact with the injured superstar.

Neymar, 26, is set to be out until April after suffering a broken foot in a Coupe de France win over Strasbourg last month.

Tuchel said he was regularly in touch with the Brazil star, wanting to maintain their connection despite the forward being sidelined.

“When he is at Ooredoo [Training Centre] I hug him, when he is not at Ooredoo I write to him,” he told a news conference.

“So I keep in contact, I show him that I still believe, that I still wait, I show him that I am sad when he’s not in the dressing room. I write to him that it’s sad when we start to prepare a match without him. And we are joking and we are writing and we are keeping in touch.

“We want to keep in touch with everybody, but we cannot lose the connection to Ney and this is how we try.

“But right now the big focus is on his rehabilitation and the big focus is on every physio and every doctor who’s with him and they deserve now the biggest credit to bring him hopefully back on the pitch very soon.”

PSG have won four straight games in all competitions heading into a trip to Lyon on Sunday.