© EuroFootball.com
As reported by the English lower league club Birmingham on Tuesday, Finnish national team striker Mikael Forssell will undergo knee surgery, which will sideline him for three months and he is expected to return to the squad only in January next year.
The 25-year-old player injured his right knee meniscus during a team training session over the weekend and underwent surgery on Wednesday.
"Mikael has been feeling discomfort in his knee so far and after the X-ray, it was decided that he needed surgery," said Birmingham's manager Steve Bruce. - "It's unfortunate not only for us but also for him because he won't be able to play for eight to 12 weeks."
The only comfort for the Finnish striker is that it is not the same knee that kept him out for a major part of the 2004-2005 season a few years ago when he suffered an injury to his left knee.
Forssell has been struggling with knee pain since the 2003-2004 season when Birmingham borrowed him from Chelsea and he scored 19 goals for the Blues helping them finish 10th in the Premier League.
He then extended his loan with Birmingham, but in September 2004, he had to undergo surgery again and returned to Chelsea.
Finally, Birmingham's manager S.Bruce managed to permanently acquire the player in 2005 - he paid a sum of £3 million for him. However, the striker played a small part of the previous season and could not help the team much, which finished 18th and got relegated to the lower English Championship.
It was thought that Forssell would play a key role in the team and help them return to the Premier League, but the predictions did not come true as he suffered a knee injury again after coming on as a substitute in a mid-October match against Luton Town.
At the beginning of this season, the Finnish player managed to play only nine games for Birmingham and scored one goal.
Currently, Birmingham is in the 4th position in the Championship league after playing 16 matches and collecting 30 points.
