Leeds United midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi is set to be sidelined until late March after suffering knee ligament damage, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post.
The Japan international, who joined German club Greuther Fuerth on a season-long loan in August, sustained a torn posterior cruciate ligament while playing in a league match at the start of this month.
The Yorkshire Evening Post report that Ideguchi has avoided surgery but is set for a lengthy period of rehabilitation that will keep him out until the spring.
OPINION
What a shattering blow for Leeds and Ideguchi, who was just a handful of matches into a season-long loan as he looked to get crucial match experience to provide lift-off to his United career. The YEP report that the 22-year-old will not require an operation on his damaged ligament, but that will provide little solace to the player as he begins a lengthy period of convalescence. He has suffered the same injury as Leeds striker Patrick Bamford, but is set for nearly six months out in total, given that spring in the northern hemisphere starts in late March. Little has gone right for Ideguchi since he joined Leeds to much fanfare in January. He has yet to play for his parent club and has done little of note during two loan spells, first at feeder club Cultural Leonesa in Spain in the second half of last season and then un the German second tier. Ideguchi will need to be mentally strong and ensure he has good people around him, as well as the support of his club, during his recovery.