Galatasaray star Radamel Falcao is to undergo surgery after suffering a facial injury during training.
The striker fractured a bone in his face after clashing with team-mate Kerem Akturkoglu.
Falcao came off far worse than the 22-year-old and was subsequently taken to hospital for tests.
The Colombian international will now face surgery to set the fractured bone in his face with a lengthy spell on sidelines ahead.
A statement from the club read: “After the head collision in today’s training, a fracture was detected in the facial bones of one of our players, Radamel Falcao, whose examinations were performed at our sponsor hospital Ulus Liv Hospital.
“The treatment of our player has been planned for this evening with a closed reduction intervention under anaesthesia.
“Kerem Akturkoglu, who did not encounter any problems during the examinations, will be kept under surveillance for precautionary purposes.”
Falcao faced forgettable spells in the Premier League with Manchester United and then Chelsea.
The forward came to England with a huge reputation having been prolific throughout his career.
He first made his name in Europe with Porto where his goals fired them to the Europa League.
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
Falcao then got a move to Atletico Madrid where he continued to score with regularity.
He bagged a memorable hat-trick against Chelsea in the European Super Cup back in 2012 before moving to Monaco.
There he was plagued by injuries and a lack of form, but he rediscovered his goalscoring touch as he fired the principality to the Ligue 1 title in 2017.
Falcao moved to Istanbul in 2019 and has scored 19 times for the Turkish side.
