Higuain undergoes back surgery

Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain will miss up to four months of football after undergoing successful surgery on a hernia in his back.

Higuain last played for Real on November 20 against Athletic Bilbao and recently travelled to Chicago for surgery on his back problem.

Dr Richard Fessler, who operated on the Argentine, said Higuain is able to move freely as he begins his recovery, which will see him stay in the United States for another week.

“He’ll be able to walk around immediately. He’ll be able to start stretching out in a week or so and start running in somewhere of a range of two to four weeks,” Dr Fessler said.

“I think he will be able to practice non-competitively in about two months. I would not expect competitive play for somewhere between three and four months.”

Real Madrid’s team doctor Carlos Diez urged fans to be patient and not to expect Higuain back in first-team action for some time.

“We’re going to go step by step. I think it’s important in this kind of surgery to be patient. In other words, we don’t want to move ahead in a way that will make us take a step back,” Dr Diez said.

“I think Dr Fessler was saying we had to go little by little. First he’ll go through a phase of walking and then we will see how that develops, then with progressive exercises. Then start running a little. Then with more progress we introduce him into the group dynamic.”