Not again! Barcelona's Vermaelen suffers new five-month injury setback
Barcelona's Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen looks on during a training session at the Sports Centre FC Barcelona Joan Gamper in Sant Joan Despi, near Barcelona on November 21, 2014. Vermaelen will undergo thigh surgery which will sideline him for up to five months. PHOTO | JOSEP LAGO |
What you need to know:
- The 29-year-old Belgian international's only action since his switch to the Camp Nou for a reported fee of 19 million euros (£15m, $23.7m) was in a friendly game for Barcelona's reserves against an Indonesian under-19 team in September.
MADRID
Barcelona defender Thomas Vermaelen, who has yet to play a match for the Spanish giants since his summer move from Arsenal, will undergo thigh surgery which will sideline him for up to five months.
The 29-year-old Belgian international's only action since his switch to the Camp Nou for a reported fee of 19 million euros (£15m, $23.7m) was in a friendly game for Barcelona's reserves against an Indonesian under-19 team in September.
"Thomas Vermaelen will undergo surgery on the right semi-tendinous muscle (hamstring) in his right leg next Tuesday in Finland. The estimated recovery time is 4 to 5 months," said a Barcelona statement.
Vermaelen suffered a series of fitness setbacks during his five-year Arsenal career where he missed virtually the whole of the 2010-11 campaign.
He featured in the Belgium squad which reached the World Cup quarter-finals in Brazil although injury ruled him out of the 1-0 loss to Argentina in the last eight.
