FC Bayern have suffered another setback in their youth academy as top talent Wisdom Mike underwent a successful operation following a serious muscle injury – and will now be out of action for several months
The 17-year-old suffered a serious injury to his left hip during training. The diagnosis: a tear in the flexor muscle. An operation was unavoidable – and took the youngster to Finland of all places
As BILD reports, the operation in Turku was performed by Dr. Lasse Lempainen, who is considered one of the leading experts on muscle injuries in the soccer world. The Finn specializes in particular in complicated cases where tendons are also affected
The 47-year-old performs around 350 operations a year – including on prominent names, such as Marc-André ter Stegen, who was recently operated on by Lempainen, as was PSG star Ousmane Dembélé during his time at FC Barcelona
The doctor works closely with numerous top European clubs and is in regular contact with clubs such as FC Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Juventus Turin
Bayern relies on proven expertise
The expertise of the „muscle pope“ is also well-known at FC Bayern. Lempainen has worked at the Technical University of Munich in the past and has a broad network in international soccer
In view of the accumulation of muscle injuries at the Munich club – most recently with Alphonso Davies, Hiroki Ito and Sven Ulreich – the decision to appoint this specialist comes as no surprise
Four-month break looming
For Wisdom Mike, the operation now means one thing above all: patience. Internally, a downtime of around four months is currently expected
This means the talented attacking player will miss an important part of the season – at a time when he was slowly getting to grips with the pros and had already been able to make his first brief appearances
Setback on the way to the top
The timing of the injury is particularly bitter: Mike was recently regarded as one of the most exciting talents on the Bayern campus and was on his way to establishing himself in the professional squad
The first priority now is a full recovery, as the risk of relapse is particularly high with serious muscle injuries if the healing process is not fully completed
For FC Bayern and the player himself, it is therefore important not to take any risks – even if it takes longer than hoped to get back on the pitch