Barcelona to be without defender until September

Barcelona are likely to be without one of their new signings until September.

Ilkay Gundogan should recover in time for their league opener against Getafe this weekend, while Oriol Romeu has a good chance of starting the match.

However the same cannot be said for Inigo Martinez. The veteran defender has been trying to deal with a foot problem for some time, and it kept him in pain at the end of the season for Athletic Club.

Barcelona do not want to rush his recovery, and thus Sport now believe that he is unlikely to return to action before September. He will not play against Getafe, and while he has worked individually on the pitch, his recovery may not be a linear process. If he were out until September, it would keep him out of ties against Cadiz and Villarreal too.

They point out that depending on how compromised the tissue is, he could be better or worse from one day to the next, rather than a healing process like that of a break or a muscle problem.

While the article notes that there is little concern at Barcelona, there must be a degree of worry that comes alongside a chronic injury for a 32-year-old. Nevertheless, Martinez and Barcelona have both been positive about his injury issues – at the very least, it is the position Barcelona are perhaps deepest in.