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Barcelona have been hit with more bad news regarding the return from injury after knee surgery of teenage striker Ansu Fati. The 18-year-old was ruled out for four months in November but now looks like being out for longer.
Fati has already been ruled out of Barcelona’s Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain, and it has now emerged that the youngster may not make his first-team return until April. There are also fears the striker could require further surgery.
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Fati Suffers Setback
Tomas Andreu at Sport reports that Fati could be fit enough to return by the end of March in the best-case scenario, but it’s far more realistic that the striker will not be ready to come back until the middle of April.
The problem is that Fati has experienced “intense pain” after stepping up his recovery that has forced him to stop. An examination has revealed fluid on his left knee which is a real step back in his rehabilitation.
Andreu adds that Barca are unwilling to set a return date and the club’s medical staff have even considered ruling Fati out until the start of next season if further problems arise.
Jordi Grau at Catalunya Radio also has a worry report on Fati’s current situation. He states that “right now no one dares to rule out a third intervention” for Fati because his knee “remains excessively inflamed.” A third operation would likely rule the youngster out for the rest of the 2020-21 season.
Fati is said to be “having a very bad time” due to his slow recovery. Certainly, the youngster has made it clear he’s missing playing for Barcelona with his latest social media post.
The worrying new reports on Fati will be a blow to Barcelona and also cause concern to Spain national team boss Luis Enrique. Fati had been expected to play a big role for La Roja in the rescheduled European Championship this summer.
Griezmann On Fire For Barcelona
There’s no doubt that Fati is missed at Barcelona but the club has not lacked for goals this season and has also been boosted by the return to full fitness of French forward Ousmane Dembele.
Meanwhile, striker Antoine Griezmann has been doing the business for the club since the turn of the year. The Frenchman has often struggled to live up to his €120 million price tag so far at Barcelona but has been in superb form in recent weeks.
⚽️ 6 goals
🅰️ 7 assists
Antoine Griezmann has 13 goal contributions in his last nine matches for Barcelona 🔥
Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman spoke about the World Cup winner after he was involved in four of the team’s five goals during Wednesday’s Copa del Rey win over Granada.
“He has always worked hard to change things, to have more luck,” Koeman said as reported by Marca. “It’s important for him. With him playing like this, we’re even more dangerous.”
Griezmann now has 12 goals and eight assists for the season and is Barcelona’s second-highest scorer behind captain Lionel Messi. The Catalan giants will be hoping he can go on and maintain his hot streak, particularly with Fati still looking to be some way off a first-team return.
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