Guardiola picks ‘best doctor in world’ to fix Arzani

Pep Guardiola has chosen celebrated Spanish orthopedic surgeon Ramon Cugat to mastermind the recovery of injured Socceroo Daniel Arzani.

Arzani

Daniel Arzani after suffering an injury on debut for Celtic Source: Getty Images

Described by Guardiola as “the best doctor in the world”, Barcelona-based Cugat most recently treated Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and is almost as famous as the players he tends to.

He was alerted to the predicament of Arzani - loaned out by Manchester City to Celtic for two seasons - when it became obvious during the week that the knee injury he suffered on debut for the Hoops was serious.

City boss Guardiola was himself a regular patient of the 67-year-old during his playing days with Barcelona, when Cugat solved long-standing hamstring problems.
Cugat has been his go-to man ever since, with the surgeon on speed dial for difficult cases.

Arzani will join a long list of players including Etihad stars Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus to have sought solutions from Cugat when he consults with the Australian youngster at Barcelona’s Quiron Hospital on Tuesday to assess what is now thought to be either a partial, or possibly fully torn, anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

An initial scan in Glasgow was unclear in its findings due to joint swelling and now Cugat - who has also worked on the likes Xavi Hernandez, Samuel Eto'o, Mikel Arteta, Cesc Fabregas, David Villa Andres Iniesta and Fernando Torres - will make the call on Arzani’s next step.

If surgery is required, Arzani will go under the knife in Barcelona and remain there for at least a month.

It’s a huge blow for the gifted 19-year-old winger who was initially led to the belief by Celtic’s medical staff that the injury may been a less serious meniscus or lateral ligament tear.

In addition to his surgical expertise, Cugat uses stem cells and platelet growth factors as part of his armoury, with Arzani facing two to three months out should a second MRI scan confirm a partial tear. A full tear would require surgery and sideline him for nine months.

Either way, he will miss January’s AFC Asian Cup.

But Guardiola believes that whatever the scenario, Cugat will provide the speediest recovery timetable.
Such is his faith in him that he tried to bring Cugat on board as his official club doctor when he took charge at the Camp Nou in 2008.

Cugat declined the offer, choosing retain his independence as a practitioner to treat players from across the world.


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3 min read
Published 3 November 2018 6:06pm
By Dave Lewis

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