Tearful Neymar wishes for 'new metatarsal'

Neymar celebrated his 27th birthday with a glittering party in Paris on Monday evening joined by family, Paris Saint-Germain teammates and a smattering of celebrities.

DJ Bob Sinclair, Brazilian singer Wesley Safadao and world surf champion Gabriel Medina were among the 200 guests at the fashionable Pavillon Gabriel near the Champs-Elysees.

The world's most expensive footballer, nursing a right foot injury, greeted his guests leaning on distinctive red crutches in keeping with the colour theme for the 'Nuit Rouge (Red Night)'.

Among his club colleagues in attendance were captain Thiago Silva and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

Neymar, who turns 27 on Tuesday, will miss both legs of Paris Saint-Germain's upcoming Champions League last-16 tie against Manchester United with a metatarsal injury suffered last month.

Instagram footage shows the Brazilian dancing and singing on stage with team-mates Dani Alves and Kylian Mbappe.

However, there was an altogether different mood when the former Barcelona forward gave a speech later in the night as a tearful Neymar told friends and family that he wished he had "a new metatarsal" in a tearful birthday speech.

"What I wanted the most as a birthday present today is a new metatarsal. So I could be on the field fighting and doing what I love the most, which is playing football," Neymar said.

"It's been very hard to be on crutches all this time. Every athlete knows how hard that is. My teammates are giving me all the strength possible to help me return as soon as possible."

Neymar is in good company when it comes to famous footballers sharing his big day, as Cristiano Ronaldo turned 34 yesterday, Carlos Tevez is 35, and former Romania great Gheorghe Hagi is 54.