Photograph: Álex Caparrós/Getty Images
Barcelona have announced that Alexia Putellas will undergo surgery to assess an ongoing problem with her left knee.
The Spain forward has not played for Barça since she scored twice for the defending champions against Benfica in the Women’s Champions League on 14 November. Putellas withdrew from a national team training camp in Madrid last month because of a knee injury, which also kept her out of recent matches for her club.
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“Alexia Putellas is undergoing an arthroscopy on her left knee this Wednesday 27 December,” an official statement said. “The club will be making an official medical announcement once the operation has concluded.”
An arthroscopy is a type of keyhole surgery which uses a small fibre-optic camera to diagnose and treat joint problems. Putellas missed Euro 2022 after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the same knee, which caused her to miss most of the 2022-23 season.
Putellas recovered from that injury, which occurred in training before the tournament, in time to feature for Spain at the 2023 World Cup. She was a late substitute in the 1-0 final victory against England, and also came off the bench as Barcelona beat Wolfsburg 3-0 to win their second European title in June.
The 29-year-old has played more regularly this season, often deployed as a “false nine” up front by the Barça manager, Jonatan Giráldez. In October, Putellas scored the only goal in a win against Atlético Madrid to become the all-time leading scorer for the Barcelona women’s team with 182 goals.
Putellas, a two-time Ballon d’Or winner, missed Spain’s final Women’s Nations League group games because of the new injury. Spain have qualified for the semi-finals, and will play the Netherlands in the last four on 23 February.
