Barcelona has confirmed that injury-plagued Thomas Vermaelen will be operated on and will be out for four to five months.
He will be operated on by Sakari Orava, the same doctor who operated on Jonathan Woodgate when an injury delayed his Real Madrid debut for an entire season.
The former Arsenal captain was injured in Belgium’s meeting with Russia in the World Cup five months and was assumed to be ‘ready for action’ when he signed with Barcelona in the summer.
He has since played just 72 minutes in a friendly and is yet to start a competitive match for the club.
Real Madrid signed Woodgate in 2004 despite the fact, that like Vermaelen, he was injured. The defender had suffered a thigh injury the previous April and not played since.
Real gave him his debut in a pre-season friendly but this seemed to put back his progress and he finally played his first competitive game in September 2005, a year after signing.
Barcelona now have their very own Woodgate – right down to signing him injured; trying to bring him back in a friendly to no avail, and finally sending him to Orava for an operation. The Finnish surgeon has also operated on David Beckham and Pep Guardiola in the past.
As a former Ajax defender Barcelona had hoped £15 signing Vermaelen would be the answer to their defensive problems. It now seems unlikely that he will play for them before the start of next season.