Budapest (AFP) – Winger Ousmane Dembele, who was hurt playing for France at Euro 2020, will need surgery his club, Barcelona, said on Tuesday.
The club said on their web site that tests on Tuesday had shown “a dislocation of the biceps tendon in his right knee” requiring an operation.
Dembele, who left the French team after being ruled out for the rest of the Euros, could be out of action for about four months, according to a close source.
Barcelona opened the summer by signing veteran striker Sergio Aguero on a free transfer and on Sunday, added another attacking player, Dutchman Memphis Depay, also for free, from Lyon.
For Dembele, it is the second such injury, following a rupture of a tendon in his right thigh in February 2020.
Dembele, 24, was hurt in the closing minutes of the 1-1 draw against Hungary in Budapest on Saturday after coming on as a substitute.
Dembele came off the bench in both France’s matches in the Euros.
After moving from Borussia Dortmund for 135 million euros ($160 million) in August 2017, the second highest fee Barcelona have paid for a player, the “Mosquito” struggled with a series of hamstring injuries.
This season, he only had one injury break and made 44 club appearances, scoring 11 goals.
Dembele, who was part of France’s World Cup winning squad in Russia in 2018, had a good run up to Euro 2020, scoring in a World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan in March and against Wales in a friendly at the start of June.
