Ruud out for the season
Monday, November 10, 2008

Real Madrid confirmed on Thursday that they will be without striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy for the rest of the season.

The Dutch forward traveled to Colorado in the United States this week to discover the extent of the damage to his right knee, suffered while playing against Juventus in the Champions League three weeks ago.

He visited Dr Richard Steadman, the surgeon who treated him for a similar injury back in 2000. There were hopes that Van Nistelrooy would not require invasive treatment and would be able to recover with physiotherapy, however, that is not the case.

After an exploratory operation, Dr Steadman concluded that Van Nistelrooy will require surgery on a partial tear on his meniscus ligament.

The estimated time he will be out of action is between six and nine months, depending on his evolution," said a medical report on RealMadrid.com.

That means Van Nistelrooy will not play again in the 2008-09 season and his club will almost certainly move to make a signing when the transfer window opens in January.

Real Madrid's failure to buy a striker during the summer means that coach Bernd Schuster has only got Raul Gonzalez and Gonzalo Higuain as strikers.

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