Soccer-Blow for Barcelona as Dembele suffers tear in right hamstring

Barcelona's France forward Ousmane Dembele has suffered a setback in his return from injury after the Spanish club said on Tuesday that tests had revealed a complete proximal tear in his right hamstring. The 22-year-old has not played since Nov. 27 when he hobbled off in tears in the first half of Barca's 3-1 Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund. Dembele had been in recovery but aggravated the injury earlier this week in training.

The severity of the injury means he is likely to need surgery. Barcelona said in a statement on Twitter that a decision on Dembele's treatment would be made in the next few hours.

"Tests carried out on Ousmane Dembele today have confirmed that he has a complete proximal hamstring tear in his right thigh," the club added. Dembele signed for Barcelona from Dortmund in 2017 for 105 million euros ($115.96 million) but his time in Spain has been marred by injuries.

He missed five months of his debut season due to a hamstring problem that required surgery and has made five starts in all competitions this season. Barcelona are currently second in La Liga, three points behind rivals Real Madrid.

($1 = 0.9055 euros)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)