Barcelona fears confirmed: Surgery announced for key midfielder | OneFootball

Barcelona midfielder Gavi will undergo surgery to address persisting pain in his knee this week, having already spent the past month out of action due to the injury. The 21-year-old had been hoping to recover without going under the knife, but the Blaugrana announced that it would indeed be the case on Monday.

Gavi was ruled out of Barcelona’s clash last month against Rayo Vallecano due to unexplained knee pain, missing their subsequent clashes with Valencia, Newcastle United and Getafe this weekend. After pulling out of the Spain squad, and seeing no improvement, a more detailed examination of his knee discovered a meniscus issue.

Gavi to undergo surgery on meniscus

He will now have an arthroscopy to try and adress the issue in his right knee. The club announcement stated that “conclusion is that in order to guarantee the best possible recovery and return to competitive action this Tuesday Gavi will undergo an arthroscopic examination.” They will then release a second statement on the results of the arthroscopy after it has been carried out.

Image via Alex Caparros/Getty Images

How long will Gavi be out of action?

The operation typically requires at least five weeks to recover from, meaning Gavi’s recovery will likely see him targeting a return in November. That will include an international break, but he is still likely to miss at least seven Barcelona matches. The final of those, on the 26th of October, is El Clasico against Real Madrid, which would be almost exactly five weeks from the operation, but likely means it would be too soon to play him in a game of that magnitude.

Before the international break, Real Oviedo (A), Real Sociedad (H), Paris Saint-Germain (H) and Sevilla (A). Before El Clasico, Barcelona take on Girona (H) and Olympiakos (A) in the Champions League. After the Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu, Barcelona host Elche.