Barcelona’s Spain forward Ansu Fati is set for several months on the sidelines after sustaining a knee injury in their 5-2 home win over Real Betis in La Liga on Saturday.
A Barca statement said Fati, who turned 18 last month, had ruptured the internal meniscus in his left knee and that the club were currently weighing up different treatment options, without giving details on when he could expect to return.
Fati was included in the Spain squad for their upcoming fixtures against the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany but is unlikely to return to action for the rest of the year.
He is also set to miss Barca’s crunch Liga trip to Atletico Madrid later this month and will be a doubt for the Spanish Super Cup, set to be held in January in Saudi Arabia.
Fati has been one of Barca’s best performers this season, scoring five goals in 10 appearances in La Liga and the Champions League.
Last season he became the club’s youngest ever league goalscorer and the youngest scorer in the history of the Champions League.
A goal in a Nations League match with Ukraine in September, meanwhile, made him the youngest player to score for Spain.
