Thursday, 27th November, 2014
Finnish doctor Sakari Orava has recommended that Barcelona defender Thomas Vermaelen undergo surgery on a troublesome hamstring.
Vermaelen joined Barcelona from Arsenal in the summer, but has failed to make a single first team appearance for the Catalan giants so far.
The Belgian has been struck by repeated hamstring injury issues and it was claimed earlier this week that surgery could rule him out for five months.
That would put Vermaelen at risk of missing the entire season at the Camp Nou.
But Orava, who has studied Vermaelen's latest MRI scans, feels the defender should undergo surgery to cure the issue.
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The Finnish doctor told Belgian daily HLN: "I have studied the latest MRI scans and I gave my opinion."
Vermaelen is a product of Ajax's youth system and was snapped up by Arsenal from the Amsterdam outfit in 2009.
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