Barcelona captain and two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putelas will undergo knee surgery this week, the club announced on Tuesday.
Puteras, 29, has not featured since leaving at half-time in Barcelona’s Champions League win over Benfica on November 14 and has also missed the club’s last seven games.
Putelas suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee just days before the start of the 2022 European Championships, which ruled him out of the tournament and will keep him sidelined for the next 10 months.
“Barcelona women’s football star Alexia Putelas will undergo arthroscopic surgery on her left knee on Wednesday, December 27,” the club said in a statement.
“The club will make an official medical announcement once the surgery is complete.”
Both the club and staff are concerned that tests will conclude that she has not suffered a serious injury, and further advice as to the cause of the ongoing problem and what the next steps will be with surgery currently being decided on. was required.
Putelas’ contract with Barcelona expires at the end of this season, along with teammates Sandra Panos, Asisat Oshoala, Lucie Bronze, Marta Torrejon, Gemma Font and Mariona Caldenti.
Barcelona head coach Jonathan Giraldes has already announced that he will be leaving the club at the end of this season, and sporting director Markel Zubizarreta left a few months ago, while defender Mapi Leon announced earlier this month that he will be leaving the club in 2026. He signed a new contract until the year.
Putelas has made 408 appearances for Barcelona since joining from Levante in 2012, scoring 184 goals. During that time, she won 25 trophies, including seven Liga F titles and two Champions League wins.
Putelas has played a total of 113 games for Spain, scoring 30 goals. In September 2022, she supported a group of players known as the “Las 15”, acting as an intermediary between players and the Spanish Football Federation in order to address player complaints of poor physical and mental health.
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Alexia Putelas of Barcelona and Spain, full text: “She reminds me of Busquets and Iniesta.” She is golden in every sense.”
(Catherine Ivill – UEFA/UEFA, via Getty Images)