Atletico Madrid defender Sime Vrsaljko will miss at least two months of action after undergoing a third knee operation in two years.
The Croatian international missed the bulk of the 2019-20 season after suffering a serious knee injury in January 2019 which required a major operation.
He returned to action for Diego Simeone’s side in December 2019, but only managed around three months of full fitness before suffering a recurrence of the injury in their return to training in June.
He subsequently missed the remainder of the restarted campaign, with a positive Covid-19 test preventing him from taking part in light training.
He has not featured for the La Liga giants in 2020-21, with reports from Marca confirming the club have taken the decision to recommend surgery in an attempt to resolve the situation.
The 28-year old could feature again before the end 2020, however, due to the nature of his recovery, Simeone may give him the winter break to continue his rehabilitation programme.