Putellas to undergo surgery

BARCELONA:

Barcelona Femení captain and two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas will undergo knee surgery, the Catalan club said on Tuesday.

The Spain forward had to leave the national team training camp in Madrid last month because of a knee injury, which also kept her out of recent matches with Barça.

"Barcelona women's football star Alexia Putellas is undergoing this Wednesday 27 December an arthroscopy on her left knee," the club said in a statement.

"The club will be making an official medical announcement once the operation has concluded."

Putellas, 29, missed the 2022 European Championship due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury but was part of Spain's victorious World Cup squad this year.

Putellas is out of contract at Barcelona at the end of the current season, alongside her teammates Sandra Panos, Asisat Oshoala, Lucy Bronze, Marta Torrejon, Gemma Font and Mariona Caldentey.

Barcelona head coach Jonatan Giraldez has already announced that he will leave the club at the end of this season, while sporting director Markel Zubizarreta left a few months ago, although defender Mapi Leon signed a new contract through to 2026 earlier this month.

Putellas has played 408 times for Barcelona since her arrival from Levante in 2012, scoring 184 goals. She has won 25 trophies in that time, including seven Liga F titles and two Champions Leagues.

Putellas has been capped 113 times at international level for Spain, for whom she has scored 30 goals. In September 2022, she supported the group of players known as ‘Las 15’, and she acted as a mediator between the players and the Spanish FA in a move to address player complaints over their poor mental and physical health