After losing Luis Suarez to a four-month layoff, many placed their eggs in Ousmane Dembele’s inevitable return but that could be pushed back after the Frenchman reportedly suffering a relapse.
The former Dortmund ace, who has seen his Barcelona career plagued by injuries, was sidelined for around 10 weeks due to a hamstring injury. The 22-year-old had returned to training and was in the final stages of his recovery before feeling discomfort during a session on Monday.
The World Cup winner was thus forced to quit the Blaugrana training in fear of aggravating his muscle issue. As per Marca, it could be a relapse or a muscle fatigue, but the Spanish publication confidently reach the conclusion that his return won’t occur soon.
This occurrence is made all the more worrying by a report by ESPN which states talisman forward Lionel Messi is carrying a thigh issue but is forced to play through the pain due to their injury crisis.
Citing sources at the club, the write that while there is no major long-term concern regarding Lionel’s discomfort, things have been made worse by the changes in training introduced by Quique Setien. If Leo were to be handed time off to rest and recover, the Catalan giants would be left with only two fit attackers in the form of Antoine Griezmann and Ansu Fati, with the latter being only 17 years old.
This is not the first time the Argentine icon has played through the pain to help his team. He is the top scorer in the league (14 goals) and at Barcelona and has provided the most assists in La Liga (eight).
