Barcelona’s all-time record signing Ousmane Dembele now looks set to miss the rest of the year through injury.
The 20-year-old French winger will travel to Finland next week where he will be operated on by the tendon injury specialist Sakari Orava who treated Jonathan Woodgate during his time at Real Madrid.
Dembele joined Barcelona in the summer for an original fee of 105million euros rising to 150m. The deal made him the second most expensive player in history and he had made a promising start to life at the Camp Nou.
Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele could be out for four months after suffering thigh injury
But he hobbled off the pitch after 25 minutes in the win over Getafe on Saturday suffering what at first looked like a hamstring tear.
Tests, however, revealed a torn tendon in the player’s left thigh and a Barcelona statement read: ‘The player will be operated on by Doctor Sakari Orava in Finland next week and the estimated recovery time is between three and four months.’
Dembele will struggle to be fit again this year leaving Barcelona short of attacking options having missed out on signing Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho this summer.
His injury could also prevent him from featuring in the first El Classico clash of the season against Real Madrid in December.
This will certainly pose a problem for boss Ernesto Valverde, who will now have to look to the likes of Gerard Deulofeu and Denis Suarez.
