Wolves winger Goncalo Guedes is looking at a spell on the sidelines, with the player needing to undergo surgery for a knee injury.
The 26-year-old has not featured in Benfica’s last few matches.
After picking up his injury against Vizela recently, Guedes was back on the bench for the Portuguese outfit’s Champions League clash with Club Brugge in midweek.
But he didn’t get on, and it has now been decided that Guedes will have an operation on his left knee.
An official statement from the club read: “Sport Lisboa e Benfica informs that the athlete Gonçalo Guedes has an injury to his left knee, with meniscal affectation. It requires surgical treatment, to be performed in the coming days.
Benfica manager Roger Schmidt said in his press conference (via Mais Futebol): “It’s a shame. We already had Draxler’s situation, we already lacked a quality player. Now, Gonçalo returned to Benfica, was motivated to return to play at the club, was part of the team and had made good games.
“He already had knee problems, which were being treated, but now we can’t continue with that treatment, we have to change something. The decision of the medical team and the player was to advance to the operation. I’m no expert, but I think he’ll be away for four to six weeks.”
Guedes has so far made eight appearances for Benfica in his second spell with the club.
Wolves sanctioned a loan move for him in January, with Julen Lopetegui saying he didn’t want to be at Molineux.
A big blow for Goncalo Guedes and Wolves as star prepares to have knee surgery
This is a real shame for Guedes, who had been making a decent early impression back at Benfica.
It’s also a blow for Wolves in terms of potentially making their money back on the player.
Guedes cost an initial £27.5 million. And Wolves will have been hoping for a strong second half of the season for their player.
Guedes will now potentially only have a handful of games in which to increase his market value.
It will be difficult for him to come back and hit the ground running straight away. And so, Wolves’ chances of making their money back may now be slim.