Rodrigo Bentancur: Extent of Spurs star's injury seen in new photo | OneFootball

Rodrigo Bentancur will not play for Tottenham Hotspur again in 2022/23.

The Uruguay international - who represented the country at the 2022 World Cup - suffered a serious knee injury in a 4-2 defeat away at Leicester City.

Shortly after the February match at the King Power Stadium, Spurs confirmed the news of Bentancur's prolonged absence.

A statement posted on the club's official website read: "We can confirm that Rodrigo Bentancur has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and will be out of action for the remainder of the campaign. The midfielder will undergo surgery before beginning his rehabilitation with our medical staff."

GiveMeSport VIDEO OF THE DAY

Play Video

Bentancur could return to action at the end of the year, although he'll take a while to get up to speed, so we won't see the best of him until early 2024 at the soonest.

But the former Juventus man is at least back in the gym, as he begins his rehabilitation programme after undergoing successful knee surgery.

Bentancur uploaded footage of him back at the Spurs training ground to his official Instagram page.

And in the video clip, eagle-eyed fans have noticed the huge impact of the horrendous injury on the midfield maestro.

In a screenshot uploaded to Twitter, you can clearly see the difference in muscle between Bentancur's two legs, despite the fact it's been less than two months since the Leicester game.

Check out the image posted from the Tottenham Tiers account, which further highlights how devastating an ACL injury can be...

Image: The difference between Bentancur's legs after ACL injury

The muscle atrophy is pretty mad, isn't it?

Of course, Bentancur will no doubt regain the leg muscle quickly once he's able to start running and training properly again.

But it's not often you see such a noticable impact from an ACL injury, aside from when players choose to share photos of their surgery scars.

Here's how some fans have reacted to the above image of Bentancur...

Fan reaction

Prior to his knee injury, Bentacur had established himself as Spurs' most important midfielder.

The team just hasn't been the same without him, especially given he added goals to his game.

In 18 Premier League appearances, Bentacur scored five goals, which isn't bad for a central midfielder at all - particularly one playing in Antonio Conte's pragmatic system.

When he finally returns, Bentancur might be afforded new freedom under a more attack-minded Spurs manager, now that Conte has left by mutual consent.