It was during a training session with the Spanish national team before the European Championships in England that the accident occurred for Spain’s Alexia Putellas. A presumed sprained knee turned out to be a cruciate ligament injury.
It is now clear how long Putellas, who won the Ballon d’Or last winter, the award for the world’s best player, and who has now undergone knee surgery, will be gone.
“Tuesday morning’s operation on Alexia Putellas at a hospital in Barcelona was successful. The team captain for the women’s team and the world’s best player has torn ligaments in her left knee. The time of her absence is estimated to be between 10 and 12 months,” Barcelona writes on its website.
Alexia Putellas is the player with the most internationals for Spain (100) and the second most goals for Barcelona (117) of all time. Now it will be a while before she gets the chance to fill in the numbers as she looks to miss the whole of next season.