Huge blow for Barcelona as prized player ruled out for five months

Barcelona have had rotten luck with injuries so far this season, and their misfortune has now reached new heights with news that Gavi is set to miss a significant portion of the 2025-26 season.

In recent days, it was announced by Barcelona that Gavi would undergo an operation to address discomfort in his meniscus – the same one he injured when he tore his ACL in November 2023. The midfielder has been experiencing issues in recent weeks, and it was decided that this would be the best approach to ensure that there are no more complications in the future.

Barcelona had hoped that Gavi would be back in 5-6 weeks, but this will not be the fact. In fact, he will be out for 4-5 months, as confirmed by the Catalan club in an official statement posted to X.

“First team player Pablo Páez Gavira ‘Gavi’ has had an arthroscopy to resolve a medial meniscus injury, which was sutured to preserve the meniscus. Recovery time is estimated at around 4-5 months.”

If this is accurate, Gavi would not make a return to action until February at the earliest, but given the sensitive nature of the injury, it would be no surprise if Barcelona took to be extremely careful, which would indicate that it is more likely for him to be back in March.

Gavi absence is a huge blow for Barcelona

The last 22 months have been very difficult for Gavi, and it is devastating news that he will now be set for another significant spell on the sidelines. And from a Barcelona perspective, it is equally terrible, as he would have been a vitally important player for Hansi Flick, who is now one man short in midfield.

As far as a replacement goes, Marc Bernal is already back in action after recovering from his own ACL injury, while Barcelona also have La Masia talents that could be called upon to fill Gavi’s void in the first team.