Hamburg defender Vincent Kompany will need an operation to repair his Achilles injury and will be out of action until March.
Hamburg said in a statement that the 20-year-old defender would have the operation in Switzerland on Thursday.
“He will be out until the end of February,” Hamburg doctor Oliver Dierk said on the club’s web site.
The oss of Kompany, who joined Hamburg from Anderlecht in the summer, is a huge blow to the struggling Bundesliga outfit.
“The injury is bitter news for Vincent,” coach Thomas Doll told reporters. “I’m very sorry for him and I hope he’ll be back soon.”
It is the latest in a series of setbacks for the club.
Bastian Reinhardt, Guy Demel, Raphael Wicky, Nigel de Jong and Collin Benjamin have all suffered long-term injries, while Argentine defender Juan Pablo Sorin is out for a month because of a thigh muscle strain.
With 10 Bundesliga games played, Hamburg lie in 15th place, just two points off the bottom.
