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Barcelona's Ousmane Dembele has travelled to Helsinki for surgery on the ruptured tendon that is set to keep him sidelined for up to four months. Dembele, who became the club's record signing when he joined from Borussia Dortmund for an initial €105 million, arrived at El Prat airport in a wheelchair and was accompanied by club doctor Ricard Pruna. He will be operated on by specialist Sakari Orava, who has previously been used by Barcelona to aid the recoveries of Thomas Vermaelen, Jandro Orellana and Pol Calvet. Dembele, 20, was making only his third appearance for Barca, and his first La Liga start, when he pulled up after 25 minutes of Saturday's 2-1 win over Getafe. The club had initially hoped that the France international had only suffered a minor hamstring injury, but tests carried out on Sunday showed that an operation was required. That means Dembele is unlikely to play again this year, ruling him out of the rest of the Champions League group stages and the Clasico against Real Madrid on Dec. 23. In Dembele's absence, Barca coach Ernesto Valverde is likely to turn to Gerard Deulofeu, who rejoined the club from Everton in the summer, while Paco Alcacer, Denis Suarez, Aleix Vidal and Denis Suarez are also options.
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