Real Madrid have confirmed that summer signing Arda Guler has sustained a knee injury.
The Spanish giants fought off competition from Barcelona to sign the highly-rated youngster for around €20m (£17.2m) earlier this month.
Guler travelled with Real Madrid for their pre-season tour of the USA, but he did not feature in wins over AC Milan and Manchester United.
Despite missing training last week with an apparent muscle strain, there was a belief that he would make his first Real Madrid appearance against Man United on Wednesday.
After being unable to take to the field against Erik ten Hag's side, Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti confirmed that he would also miss Saturday's El Clasico with Barcelona in Arlington.
© Reuters
There was still hope that he would be able to play a role in the upcoming friendly against Juventus, but further assessment has revealed that Guler has suffered a meniscus injury.
The 18-year-old, who has earned caps for Turkey, will now return home from the pre-season tour to continue his treatment.
In a statement, Real Madrid said: "Following tests carried out on our new signing Arda Guler, he has been diagnosed with an injury to the internal meniscus of his right knee.
"The player will be transferred to Madrid in the next few hours to continue with a specific course of treatment."
© Reuters
According to The Athletic, there is the possibility that Gurler could require surgery if a platelet rich plasma injection fails to solve the issue.
News of Guler's injury setback will certainly come as a blow to Real Madrid, as they prepare for the upcoming season, which gets underway against Athletic Bilbao on August 12.
In Guler's absence, Los Blancos side suffered a disappointing 3-0 defeat to rivals Barcelona in Saturday's friendly.
Ousmane Dembele gave the Catalan giants an early lead, before Vinicius Junior missed the chance to level from the penalty spot, and Barcelona went on to round off the victory with late goals from Fermin Martin and Ferran Torres.
