Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk will struggle to play again this season, it has been claimed.
The Dutch defender spent time with a specialist on Sunday, reviewing scans and deciding on a plan of treatment, for what is understood to be a grade three tear of his anterior cruciate ligament.
That is the worst level, with the ligament torn in half, and the surgery is designed to restructure the ligament.
The average timescale of recovery from such an injury can can be from six to 12 months, but Liverpool are reluctant to put a time-frame on his return, reports the Mirror.
The club's doctors will schedule surgery next week, and only after van Dijk has that, will his specialist be able to give a serious estimate of the time the defender must be on the sidelines.
Club sources stressed it would be wrong to rule out a return to action this season for the resilient Dutchman, because any return date will be dependent on the success of his rehab.
