Lacazette rests, Fekir under the knife

Lyon (AFP) – France international Alexandre Lacazette has been told to rest after a knock sustained in Lyon’s 4-2 defeat to Dijon on the weekend whilst teammate Nabil Fekir has started his recovery after undergoing surgery, the Ligue 1 club announced Monday.

Preliminary scans showed that Lacazette had not suffered any major damage to his knee but the 25-year-old will be sidelined for at least two weeks, meaning he will miss Les Bleus’ friendly against Italy in Bari on Thursday and their opening World Cup qualifier against Belarus in Borisov on September 6.

“The scans showed no damage to his knee, his ligaments or even his meniscus,” Lyon said in a press release.

The condition of his knee will be re-assessed next Monday with the player expected to return to training on September 6 and be available for Lyon’s clash with Bordeaux on September 10.

Lacazette is currently the top Ligue 1 goalscorer, having scored six goals in the three opening games.

Fekir underwent follow-up surgery on his knee Monday, a year after he had been operated on his anterior cruciate ligament when he injured himself on international duty with France against Portugal in September 2015.

Lyon announced that Fekir would be unavailable for at least three weeks and should resume training towards the end of next month.

Fekir’s injury had initially sidelined him for eight months, keeping him out of the France squad that reached the final of Euro 2016.