Barcelona forward Malcom sprained his ankle in training on Monday, the club has announced. Malcom, who joined Barca from Bordeaux in July, is expected to be out for one week.
A club statement read: “In Monday morning’s training session with the Barcelona squad, Malcom suffered a sprain to the lateral external ligament of his right ankle. The estimated recovery time is one week.”
The 21-year-old is unlikely to miss any fixtures, with Barcelona’s next match against Real Sociedad on September 15, after the international break.
❗ [MEDICAL REPORT] Malcom has a sprained right ankle.
More details ? https://t.co/LRFdyef2DX
?? #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/LzI2Lw89wB— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 3, 2018
The Spanish transfer window closed on Friday, August 31, but the most dramatic move of the summer happened more than a month ago.
In late July, Malcom’s transfer saga seemed to have come to an end when Bordeaux and Roma both announced a deal worth £30 million had been agreed. The 21-year-old winger packed his bags, called one of his close friends and team-mate, Jonathan Cafu, and headed straight to the airport to take a flight on a private jet with his representative Fernando Garcia.
However, Garcia never showed up. Instead, after more than an hour, he got in touch saying Malcom should return home because “something unexpected” had come up.
That unexpected thing was a last-gasp bid from Barcelona. Malcom was back at the airport the following day, but there was no setback this time—he flew to Catalonia and signed for Barca on a five-year contract for £36.5 million.
No one—including Malcom himself—saw it coming.