Official: 17-year-old Barcelona ‘future No. 9’ out for three months with hamstring injury | OneFootball

FC Barcelona have had to make do with several injury problems this season, not only with the first-team squad, but also with the reserve and youth ranks.

Days after Barça Atletic Dani Rodriguez was confirmed to be out for a significant period due to an injury, another young talent at La Masia has suffered a major blow.

Oscar Gistau out for three months

Indeed, as first reported by SPORT and now confirmed by the club, teenage forward Oscar Gistau, widely considered the ‘future No. 9’ of Barcelona, has suffered a hamstring tear which is set to sideline him for three months.

The 17-year-old striker set alarm bells ringing when he had to be substituted before the half-hour mark in the Youth Copa del Rey quarter-final between Barcelona and UD Las Palmas at Estadi Johan Cruyff earlier this week.

The centre-forward suffered muscular problems that forced him to leave the pitch early in a match that Pol Planas’ Juvenil A side eventually won by the narrowest of margins.

After the match, the club’s doctors did not initially detect any major injury. However, on Wednesday, Gistau underwent the relevant medical tests, which revealed a small tear in the lower area of his hamstring.

The La Masia striker is expected to be out for 12 weeks, meaning he will not play for the next three months.

Gistau’s absence comes as a big blow not only for the Juvenil A team, but also for Barça Atletic, for whom he has played seven times this season under Juliano Belletti, assisting one goal.

Barcelona’s medical staff will not take any risks with Gistau, given his recent injury history. The 17-year-old forward suffered a serious muscle injury last year.

Following that, he suffered a partial tear of the lateral meniscus in his left knee at the start of this season, and had only returned in mid-January only to face another setback this week.