Rüdiger undergoes meniscus surgery, will miss rest of the season

UPDATE:

Via his personal Instagram, Antonio Rüdiger confirmed the surgery and its success.

The club also released an official statement commenting on Rüdiger’s status.

Toni Rudiger successfully underwent surgery on his left knee meniscus today. He will miss the rest of this campaign and will rehab over the summer to be back early next season.

The injury suffered by Rudiger during the weekend game against Manchester United will prevent the player taking part in any of Chelsea’s remaining fixtures this season.

-Source: Chelsea FC

PREVIOUSLY:

As per Gianluca Di Marzio’s army of minions and all-seeing eyes, Chelsea center back Antonio Rüdiger is set for surgery on his meniscus today in Rome.

He’s traveled there along with an unnamed Chelsea “team doctor” — so presumably Paco Biosca, who’s the head of that department at the club — and will be staying until Thursday, after which he’ll begin his months-long rehabilitation.

Depending on the severity of the injury and the procedure, Rüdiger should be back in 2-6 months, so hopefully in time for the start of next season.

Rüdiger had picked up the injury in the second-half of Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United, re-aggravating the issue from the original problem two weeks prior, in the match against Liverpool.

Rüdiger’s history of knee injuries is simultaneously encouraging and discouraging. He’s been dealing with them since 2014, including a similar meniscus problem that kept him out for three months in the middle of the 2014-15 season. At the same time, he’s shown remarkable powers of recovery, such as when he returned in just 4.5 months from an ACL rupture suffered just prior to the 2016 World Cup. He’s been practically injury free since joining Chelsea after that season.

Get well soon, Toni!