Barcelona have confirmed that Ousmane Dembele will be out for six months after he underwent surgery on his hamstring in Finland on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old picked up the problem last week in training as he was stepping up his recovery from a previous hamstring issue.
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After further tests revealed he had suffered a muscle tear, Barcelona have now confirmed in an official club statement that the Frenchman went under the knife and will now be out of action for around six months.
The procedure was carried out in Finland, as per the club, and so now it remains to be seen whether or not Dembele can make a swift and full recovery in time to be ready for the start of next season.
It’s been another frustrating year for the Barcelona forward as he’s been limited to just nine appearances across all competitions this season and has bagged just one goal with no assists.
Particularly with Luis Suarez already out after undergoing knee surgery last month, Quique Setien would undoubtedly have been looking forward to welcoming Dembele back into the fold, but he will now be without his services for the remainder of the campaign instead.
Injuries have been a problem since his move from Borussia Dortmund in 2017, but he will no doubt be fully focused on his rehabilitation now to make a big impact next season.
As for Barcelona and Setien, they will have to lean heavily on Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Ansu Fati to guide them to La Liga and Champions League success this year, although they do have an option to sign a player outside of the transfer window with Real Sociedad’s Willian Jose seemingly their top target, as per Mundo Deportivo.