Barcelona have confirmed that Alexia Putellas underwent surgery on Wednesday to “examine” an ongoing problem with her left knee.
Having announced on Tuesday that the 29-year-old was due to undergo an arthroscopy, the club confirmed on their official website that the procedure was “successful” 24 hours later.
“Alexia Putellas has had an arthroscopy to examine her left knee,” a short statement read. “Doctor Joan Carles Monllau performed the procedure at Hospital de Barcelona, with supervision by the club’s medical services.”
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The Spain forward has not played for Barça since she scored twice 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 the injury.
Barcelona did not provide any timeline for Putellas to resume playing in Wednesday’s statement, saying: “She is unavailable for selection and her recovery will determine her return.”
An arthroscopy is a type of keyhole surgery which uses a small fibre-optic camera to diagnose and potentially 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 two-time Ballon d’Or winner 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.
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Putellas 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.
