Rio De Janeiro/Paris: Neymar admitted "fear" ahead of his return for the World Cup after a lengthy layoff following surgery for a broken bone in his foot.
In an interview published on Friday on former Brazil legend Zico's YouTube channel, the star striker said he is in a race against time to get mentally ready for the tournament in Russia.
"Everything's going well, thank God, but there's always this fear when you come back and I need to get rid of that fear as soon as possible to arrive at the World Cup," the 26-year-old, who has been out since the end of February, said.
The interview with Zico, a great from Brazil's 1980s team, took place last week, just before Neymar returned to France, where he is expected to restart training shortly with Paris Saint-Germain.
He still hopes to be completely rehabilitated by the June 14 start of the World Cup. Brazil's opening game is against Switzerland on June 17.
"The idea is that he can return to working on the field from next week provided that he responds favourably to the test," Brazilian team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said in Paris.
Neymar said that at first his return to competitive levels was "complicated". "I was always afraid of making complete movements and I'd end up compensating," he said.
The star also lauded his PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe, who is just 19, as "the best in the world for his age".
"He's a phenomenon. I've already told (Brazil midfielder) Casemiro that he'll have to take care of him" if Brazil face France in Russia.
Meanwhile, Neymar posted a picture of himself wearing the 2018-19 Paris St Germain home shirt on Saturday amid growing speculation that he could leave the French champions at the end of the season.
"Proud to wear the new jersey and to continue giving you joy," the 26-year-old striker posted on his verified Twitter handle.
Media reports claim that Neymar, who joined the Ligue 1 club from Barcelona for a world record 222 million euros ($265.11 million) last August, has told PSG directors he wanted to leave the club after only one season.
The most recent articles say the Brazilian wants to move to Real Madrid, who originally tried to sign him in 2013 before he opted to join Barcelona from Santos.
Spanish newspaper Marca reported on Friday that the player's father and agent, Neymar Sr, had told PSG his son wanted to leave immediately.
It said his father met Real directors in December on the day Cristiano Ronaldo received the Ballon d'Or in Paris.
Neymar has been out of action since spraining his ankle and fracturing his fifth metatarsal on February 25, which led him to undergo surgery in Brazil as he bids to regain fitness in time for the World Cup in Russia.
Neymar, however, has admitted that he missed playing with Barcelona stars Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez on a daily basis. He said he missed the famous 'MSN' strike trio.
"The friendship that we had was something very beautiful. What I miss from Barcelona and about Barcelona is the joy we had on a daily basis," he told Zico during the interview.
"There was a game where I dribbled several players and then gave a pass.
"Messi dribbled several players in another play and Suarez tried to do the same dribbling and then a backflip pass.
"We started to laugh at him. We were so intimate that we could laugh at each other when one couldn't do things. And then he arrived at the locker room and said: 'Well, I saw you dribbling and I tried to do the same!'"
However, the 26-year-old had suggested that he would not leave PSG this summer, despite persistent rumours.Barca legend Andres Iniesta has admitted that it is difficult to see Neymar returning to Camp Nou in the future.
"I don't think there'd be any problems within the dressing room but for me, it would be a bit weird to see him back at Barca," the club legend said.
Neymar has had a mixed first season in France. While he proved to be prolific in terms of goals and assists, he is set to finish the campaign on the sidelines with his injury.
