Neymar will not leave without a replacement: Tuchel

After PSG’s shock defeat to Rennes, coach Thomas Tuchel has admitted that he cannot afford to let Neymar go without an adequate replacement coming in to the side.

Neymar's prolonged absence from the PSG squad continued on Sunday as the Ligue 1 champions fell to a 2-1 loss at Rennes in their first away outing of the new campaign. The French side have now lost five of their last six away games and four of them have come in the absence of the Brazilian forward.

Neymar, who is recovering from an ankle injury since June, has been strongly linked to Barcelona and Real Madrid this season.

After seeing his side struggle for creativity at Roazhon Park, however, head coach Tuchel stood firm on his stance that PSG must keep hold of the player.

"He will not leave without recruitment, it is not possible," Tuchel said at his post-match news conference. "It's clear - if he stays, we will have a player who will help us win.

From Tuchel’s words, it became apparent that PSG are in no hurry to let the player leave. "We lacked capacity for acceleration. There were small situations where space opened but we were not decisive."

Tuchel told Canal +: "I always say the same thing, the transfer window is open even more than 10 days and you think it will be settled tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?

"What I think is not important. Today my player cannot play because he has not done any training like the others. This is the situation, and nothing has changed."