Barcelona's Dembele to undergo surgery on Tuesday

Barcelona's record 105 million-euro ($125 million) signing Ousmane Dembele will undergo surgery on the torn hamstring that has ruled him out of action for up to four months in Helsinki on Tuesday.

"Dembele travelled on Monday morning to Helsinki, Finland, where he will undergo surgery to repair a rupture of the biceps femoris tendon in his left thigh," Barcelona said in a statement on Monday.

"Dembele was accompanied by team physician, Dr. Ricard Pruna. Dembele will be operated on Tuesday by Dr. Sakari Orava."

In pictures published by Spanish sports daily Marca, Dembele needed the aid of a wheelchair as he left Barcelona airport for the Finnish capital.

The French international has made just three appearances for Barca since sealing his move from Borussia Dortmund last month for a fee that could rise to as much as 145 million euros based on performance-related bonuses.

However, he looks set to miss the rest of the year after hurting his hamstring after attempting a backheel just 29 minutes into Saturday's 2-1 win at Getafe.

It is the first major injury of Dembele's career and Barca boss Ernesto Valverde admitted a more experienced player may have picked up on signs all wasn't well before completely tearing the muscle.

"He doesn't have experience of recognising small niggles or more explosive moves that can mitigate these type of things," Valverde said at his pre-match press conference ahead of Barca's clash with Eibar on Tuesday.

"A backheel is the most aggressive move for the hamstring. Possibly a more experienced player wouldn't have done it."

The 20-year-old may have paid a heavy price for missing most of his pre-season preparation as he went on strike from training at Dortmund to try and force through his dream move to the Camp Nou.

He will be sidelined for the rest of Barca's Champions League group campaign and faces a race against time to take part in the first Clasico of the season against Real Madrid on December 23.

"Being injured and not being able to help is the toughest thing for a player," added Valverde.

"You have to be patient. He is young and that makes it all the more difficult.

"You never want it to happen, but in one way or another we all have to overcome problems."

At international level, Dembele will also be absent for France's final two World Cup qualifiers away to Bulgaria and at home to Belarus next month.

Source: AFP