Barcelona star Gavi is set for a sustained spell on the sidelines due to injury.
Barcelona confirm Gavi injury blow: Games missed for Hansi Flick's side and Spain, return date originally appeared on The Sporting News
Barcelona star Gavi is set to miss four to five months of action due to a knee injury.
As per an official club update, the La Liga champions have made the call to send the 21-year-old for surgery, in a hammer blow to Hansi Flick's plans for the campaign.
Gavi has not featured for Barcelona since the end of August, after flagging up knee pain to the club's medical staff, following their second league game of 2025/26.
Following extensive tests, the decision has now been made, but the issue is not as a bad as initially feared.
The Spain international missed 11 months of action from November 2023 to September 2024 after tearing his ACL on international duty with La Roja.
This latest setback is not connected to that injury, with the operation focused on 'repairing medial meniscus cartilage', and he is expected back for the season run-in.
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When will Gavi return for Barcelona?
With Barcelona placing his recovery time at between four and five months, Gavi is unlikely to be back in match action until mid-February.
That will have huge ramifications for Flick's squad planning as the midfielder will miss all seven of Barcelona's UEFA Champions League matches in the league phase up until the end of January.
If Barcelona drop into the Round of 16 playoffs, scheduled for the middle of February, he is likely to miss out - with the regular first knockout phase starting in March.
He will miss Spain's four 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers split across October and November, with Luis de la Fuente's side on course to ease over the qualification line, but his spot at the tournament next summer is not under threat at this stage.
However, the biggest absence length focuses on La Liga, with an estimated 20 league games missed - including the October 26 El Clasico trip to Real Madrid - and the Spanish Supercup in January.
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