Marseille (AFP)

Hard blow for Olympique de Marseille: his star striker, Florian Thauvin, will undergo "a small surgery" in the ankle and will probably be absent until the winter break, announced the club Wednesday.

The return to the competition of the French international was yet eagerly awaited by the club and his coach, André Villas-Boas, to boost a little flamboyant attack since the beginning of the season (3 goals in 4 games).

The French world champion was looking to regain the competition after a sprained right ankle in friendly against Glasgow Rangers (4-0 defeat) July 14, which has already deprived him of almost all the summer preparation with his club.

His ankle was already weakened for several months since Thauvin had already given up playing two games at the end of last season after a blow received on April 27.

"Florian Thauvin suffered an accidental ankle injury in a match about 4 and a half months ago, which is a small, very localized type of injury that can usually be restarted after treatment and rest. adapted, "the club said in a statement.

"His current progress has allowed him to return to the group but (he) still feels embarrassment.In order to be able to return to 100% of his abilities", the 26-year-old striker must undergo arthroscopy "in the coming days" .

- Back in Blue threatened -

September 1 "Flo" had made an appearance late in the game against Saint-Etienne (1-0), after five weeks of recovery, leaving the staff and supporters of OM optimistic.

"We find a player who will give a lot of quality to this team, Florian Thauvin", then congratulated André Villas-Boas, who added after the match: "When Thauvin will be back, it will bring us a lot."

The Portuguese coach, arrived in the offseason, did not hide his desire to be the top scorer of OM these past two seasons (22 goals in L1 in 2017-2018 and 16 in 2018-2019) one of the pieces mistresses of his attack, alongside Dario Benedetto, the Argentinian Boca Juniors recruited as N.9.

But "AVB" will continue in the coming months without the 26-year-old, while OM has been particularly discreet on the transfer market, with only two recruits before using his joker the day after the closing of the transfer window to afford the Nantes midfielder Valentin Rongier.

In the absence of Thauvin, it is Bouna Sarr, right side for a little more than two seasons but training winger, who should continue acting on the right side, especially if André Villas-Boas persists in the system in 4 -3-3 that he has put in place since his arrival.

This operation could also jeopardize a possible return of Thauvin in the French team, a few months away from the Euro-2020, while the young shoots of the French team, played by Kingsley Coman and Jonathan Ikoné, shone bright against the Albania and Andorra in recent days.

© 2019 AFP