'Okay, overweight. But fat?' Neymar fires back at weight accusations as injured

Neymar has fired back at critics suggesting he has become fat while out injured for Saudi side Al Hilal.

The 31-year-old followed Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in moving to the Saudi Pro League last summer, and he was Al-Hilal's marquee signing when he joined for £78m.

But he has made just five appearances for the club before suffering a serious knee injury on international duty with Brazil that is expected to keep him out for the rest of the season.

Following a picture surfacing online that critics suggested looked like the Brazilian had put on weight, the playmaker posted a response video.

While running on a treadmill, Neymar says: 'Okay, overweight. But fat? I don't think so! Take it, haters! Give it up or run away!'

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After Al Hilal completed the signing of Brazilian full back Renan Lodi, the club recently had a big decision to make as they had run out of space in their squad to register another overseas player.

According to Spanish outlet Sport, they have now opted to remove Neymar from the squad for the rest of the campaign in order to register Renan Lodi.

The club will be able to re-register Neymar at the end of the season when he is likely to return from injury, but his future in Saudi Arabia could now be in doubt.

Al-Hilal already have a number of high-profile overseas players including Ruben Neves and Aleksandar Mitrovic, and must make the call over whether Neymar warrants a place in their squad ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Neymar's Al-Hilal deal is due to run until June 2025, and there is an option to extend his contract by a further year, but the two parties could go their separate ways after a disastrous first season for the forward in the Middle East.