On at 23:12
CEST
The worst forecasts for the former Barça player were confirmed: he tore the ligaments in his battered left knee again
The current Corinthians player, 34, will undergo surgery again and will not play again in 2023
Injuries are taking their toll on Paulinho. The worst forecasts were confirmed: the former Barça footballer, currently at Corinthians, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left kneeto. He will have to go through the operating room in the next few days. He says goodbye to the remainder of the 2023 season, which ends in December in South America, and, worst of all, there is no forecast of when and how he will be able to return to professional football.
The moral blow is very strong for the midfielder, who will turn 35 in July, because he is a repeat offender in this type of injury. In May of last year, he had to undergo surgery for another torn ligament in the same left knee. So, he was seven months off the pitch. Now he will have to go through the same Via Crucis.
Paulinho set foot on the playing fields again at the beginning of this year. To date, he had played 678 minutes spread over 19 games (which gives an average of about 35 minutes per performance), in which he had scored two goals.
With the return of Vanderlei Luxemburgo to Timao, he had recovered his natural position in the double pivot and, until it broke again on May 24 against Argentino Juniors in a Copa Libertadores match, it had been offering the best minutes of the entire year.
His future at Corinthians, in this second stage, is now up in the air. His contract ends in December, and until the moment he was injured, the sports management of the São Paulo club had not contacted him to expand their professional relationship.
