Monday, 18th August, 2014
Everton boss Roberto Martinez has explained that Ross Barkley could be out of action for up to five months with a knee injury.
The midfielder, who signed a new contract with the club earlier this summer, missed the Toffees’ 2-2 draw with Leicester City on Saturday after picking up the injury in the training the previous day.
Scans later revealed that Barkley has suffered a partial tear in the medial ligament of his knee.
However, the extent of the damage is yet to be determined and Martinez insisted that the 20-year-old could be sidelined for "anything from seven weeks to four or five months".
“We had a scan but it was difficult to determine the extent of the injury. It is a problem with a medial ligament in his knee, but we don’t know how bad the injury is”, the Spaniard told his club’s official site.
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“We know there is a partial tear of the ligament and that could mean anything from seven weeks to four or five months, so we need to be cautious.”
Barkley, who played in three pre-season matches after returning from the World Cup in Brazil, was in great form for Everton in the 2013/14 campaign.
And Martinez admitted the England international was “unfortunate” to suffer such a heavy injury under a harmless challenge in training.
“I think Ross Barkley is a phenomenal footballer and we are going to miss him – there are no two ways about it”, he added.
“He was so sharp in pre-season and I think he came back with a different approach and a different mindset.
"He was very unfortunate to get injured in such an innocuous challenge in training and now he is going to be out for a long, long time.”
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