Bennacer has undergone surgery and will be out for four months

Milan officially announced that the midfielder Ismael Bennacer had surgery on his calf.

The Algerian underwent successful surgery in Finland by orthopaedic surgeon Lasse Lempainen, who specialises in sports injuries. The 26-year-old footballer is expected to recover for four months.

This means that Bennacer will definitely not play until the end of the year. It is highly likely that he will not help Milan in the group stage of the Champions League, which ends at the end of January.

Recall that it recently became known that the midfielder suffered a calf injury while playing for the Algerian national team. The preliminary period of his absence was said to be 90 days, but the reality turned out to be even more severe.

Even as they brace for the worst, Milan have decided not to enter the free agent market and are counting on compensating for Bennacer’s absence with young talents – primarily their own protégé Kevin Geroli and recently signed Silvano Fos from Ajax. Both midfielders are 19 years old.

Bennacer joined Milan from Empoli in the summer of 2019, signing a five-year deal with the Italian club, which was later extended until 2027.

The Algerian is regularly plagued by injuries – during his Milan career alone, he suffered at least a dozen of them. In particular, in May last year, Ismael was forced to undergo knee surgery, which kept him out of football for six months.

Milan finally got their first win under Paulo Fonseca in the fourth round of Serie A, beating Venezia 4-0 at home. The Red and Blacks have a tough week ahead of them: first, hosting Liverpool in the Champions League (Tuesday, September 17), and then the derby against Inter (September 22).