SAN FRANCISCO, November 09, (THEWILL) –Â Barcelona have confirmed that promising youngster Ansu Fati will be out for approximately four months after surgery on a tear to the internal meniscus of his left knee.
The 18-year-old was substituted at half time of Barca’s 5-2 win over Real Betis on Saturday, with the club later revealing the extent of the damage he suffered.
THEWILL reported earlier that a statement from the Catalan side confirmed Fati was to be operated on by knee specialist Dr. Ramon Cugat, and the surgery was completed on Monday.
Following the procedure, the Blaugrana officially communicated that they expect the youngster to be out until March 2021.
“The first-team player Ansu Fati has been operated on successfully by Dr. Ramon Cugat for the injury to the internal meniscus of his left knee under the supervision of the club’s medical staff. The player will be out for approximately four months,” the club stated.
Before the injury, Fati was joint-second top-scorer in La Liga with four goals, while none of his Barca team-mates had netted more.
A regular squad member last season following an explosive introduction to top-flight football as a 16-year-old under Ernesto Valverde, the brilliant Spanish forward had seemingly taken on a role of greater prominence and importance in 2020-21.
New coach Ronald Koeman had essentially made Fati an automatic pick for his starting XI with the player beginning all seven of their La Liga games so far.
Only Lionel Messi (48) has attempted more dribbles in La Liga for Barca in 2020-21 than Fati (28), while the club captain is the solitary Blaugrana player to create more chances (13) than his team-mate’s return of nine.
Fati had been called up to the Spain squad for this month’s international matches against the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
