Barcelona star has been suffering with 'hidden injury' for over six months

Last summer, due to their ongoing financial woes, Barcelona were unable to replace the departed Sergio Busquets with a high-level replacement. In the end, they opted for Oriol Romeu, who re-joined the club in a low-cost operation from Catalan rivals Girona.

Despite a promising start, Romeu has massively struggled in recent months, and has barely been called upon by head coach Xavi Hernandez, who has even opted to play defender Andreas Christensen as a pivot ahead of the 32-year-old.

It’s now been revealed that one of the main reasons for Romeu’s struggles this season has been due to a “hidden injury”. As reported by RAC1, the problem in his knee was detected during his Barcelona medical last summer, but the club opted to sign him anyway as they desperately needed a new defensive midfielder.

The problem has got worse in recent months, which has seen Romeu following a conservative treatment program – he was told that surgery would be the better option, but he turned it down on the basis that he wants to help Barcelona out between now and the end of the season.

Over the last few matches, Romeu has played just 65 minutes, as Barcelona have taken the decision to minimise his workload in training and matches so that he is as fit as possible for the season run-in, during which the Catalans’ hope that they are fighting for a title.