Ansu Fati desperately trying to avoid third knee surgery
Barcelona winger Ansu Fati is keen to exhaust all other options before turning to a third surgery to repair his knee injury.
The teenager went down with the problem back in November, and he underwent surgery in the hope of returning in March, but his knee did not respond well to the treatment and Fati ended up needing another operation to try and get things back on track.
That surgery had Fati earmarked for an April return, but it was recently revealed that his recovery has stalled yet again and the 18-year-old is now facing a third surgery that would end his season and could leave him at risk of further injuries in the future.
This third operation would see the meniscus in Fati’s knee completely removed, which would bring an end to his recurrent problems but leave him more vulnerable to issues further down the line, similar to those regularly suffered by centre-back Samuel Umtiti.
According to AS, Fati is keen to avoid going under the knife again and is working with club doctors to try everything and anything else to try and get a positive response from his knee for the first time in four months.
The winger has asked Barcelona’s medical staff to come up with as many alternatives as possible, including brutal arthrocentesis therapy, which involves numerous steroid injections and regular draining of excess fluid from the knee.
It’s understood that those inside Barcelona aren’t exactly feeling positive about this. The belief is that Fati’s knee may be in such a poor state right now – he also contracted an infection in the joint which has made things worse – that non-surgical treatment may not be enough.
Fati’s camp have acknowledged that surgery would probably be best. If he goes under the knife soon, he might even make it back for the European Championship or the Olympics, and that’s obviously being seen as a positive.
However, it’s the risk of further issues down the line which has Fati scared. At 18, he does not want to be worrying about whether his knee can withstand a long career at the highest level, but there may be no other choice.