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Marco Asensio · Fenerbahçe · İsmail Kartal · Galatasaray

Report: Asensio needs knee surgery, and Kartal's 'no problem' now faces a test

By the Data Desk · ·

First reported by Erdem Akbaş (A Spor), via Fotomaç · 17 OCT 21:02

On Saturday night İsmail Kartal told reporters he has no problem with any player and that Marco Asensio and the club would explain everything "from A to Z" on Sunday. Before midnight, a different explanation arrived. A Spor reporter Erdem Akbaş, as carried by Fotomaç late on Saturday, says injections on Asensio's knee have not worked and the Spaniard will have surgery abroad, out for at least two months.

  • The report (A Spor via Fotomaç, 17 October, 23:02 Turkish time): treatment on the knee failed, surgery abroad, at least two months out. It names neither the knee nor the clinic, and Fenerbahçe had not confirmed it by Sunday morning.
  • Asensio travelled to Villa Park but was not in the matchday squad, and he was not in the squad for Saturday's 3-0 win over Alanyaspor either.
  • Two months from now would cover the derby at Galatasaray on 26 October and Liverpool's visit on 4 November.
Why it mattersFor a week the Turkish press has asked whether Asensio is out because of his knee or because of his coach. A surgery would answer that question, and it would also take him out of the game that decides who leads the Süper Lig going into November.

At his press conference after the Alanyaspor game, Kartal said "Benim hiçbir oyuncuyla aramda problem yok" (I have no problem with any player) and added "olursa gereğini yaparım" (if there is one, I will do what is necessary), according to A Spor. Then he promised that the club and the player would both make a statement on Sunday. Fotomaç's surgery story went up at 23:02 that night, and almost every Turkish sports site repeated it within the hour, all citing the same reporter.

This is not the first surgery story about Asensio this season, and that is why we treat it with care. On 3 September Fenerbahçe called a journalist's claims of a serious knee ligament problem and a request for an operation "tamamen gerçek dışı ve hayal ürünü" (completely untrue and imaginary), Karar reported. Asensio himself said in a message on the club's social media that he was there "to deny the recent reports" that he needed surgery and would be back with the team very soon, Haberler.com reported on 4 September. On 14 October the club's official reason for leaving him out at Villa was a knee "reaction" after a knock.

On the pitch, Fenerbahçe have coped. Saturday's 3-0 against Alanyaspor, with goals from Romelu Lukaku, Kerem Aktürkoğlu and Vedat Muriqi, made them the Süper Lig's top scorers with 22 goals in eight games, and they have conceded six (ESPN). They are third with 16 points, three behind Galatasaray and one behind Amed.

What happens next: the statement Kartal promised for today, then Slavia Prague in the Champions League at the Şükrü Saracoğlu on Tuesday, 20 October (19:45 Turkish time), and the derby at Galatasaray on Monday, 26 October (21:30).

Our take

A knee would prove Kartal right, and cost him the derby

If the report is right, surgery is the better of the two stories for Kartal: a failed treatment explains why Asensio missed Villa Park and Alanyaspor far more simply than a row with his coach does, and it fits his "no problem with any player" line. The price is paid on the pitch, because at least two months rules him out of the trip to Galatasaray on 26 October and Liverpool on 4 November. Fenerbahçe scored three without him on Saturday and have the league's best attack with 22 goals, so we do not think his absence decides the derby by itself. If today's statement gives a different diagnosis or no surgery, as the club's denial did in September, we will update this story and say so.

Report: Kartal and four Fenerbahçe stars →Kartal, the 7-1 and the 6-0 →Our Aston Villa v Fenerbahçe analysis →Football news →
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Updates

  1. Confirmed Confirmed. On club TV on Sunday, Fenerbahçe doctor Ahmet Kulduk said Marco Asensio will have his operation next week ("Önümüzdeki hafta Marco Asensio'nun ameliyatını gerçekleştirmiş olacağız"), Fotomaç reports, and sporting director Oğuz Çetin denied a rift between Asensio and İsmail Kartal: "Kesinlikle bunlar gerçeği yansıtmamakta" ("This absolutely does not reflect the truth"). The club gave no return date. Fenerbahçe host Slavia Prague in the Champions League on Tuesday with 1 point from two games.
  2. Confirmed Update, Wednesday 21 October: the surgery is done, and the timeline is longer than the first report. Fenerbahçe's medical statement says Marco Asensio had a successful arthroscopic operation in Spain for a cartilage lesion in his left knee, with treatment and rehabilitation expected to take "yaklaşık 3 ay" (about three months). That rules him out of the derby at Galatasaray on Monday 26 October and of the Liverpool game on 4 November. The same statement puts Nathan Aké, injured against Slavia Prague, out for about three weeks with a moderate hamstring strain.
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