Newcastle United loanee Jetro Willems could reportedly miss the rest of 2020 after sustaining a serious knee injury.
The 25-year-old has been sidelined for the past two months after being stretchered off against Chelsea, with scans later revealing that the Dutchman tore his anterior and posterior cruciate ligament, in addition to sustaining cartilage damage.
Willems has since returned to his parent club Eintracht Frankfurt, where he underwent further tests.
Bild reports that the Netherlands international will miss at least eight to nine months, potentially ruling him out until the early stages of next year.
The injury is set to end any chance of Newcastle triggering the €11m (£10.2m) option to make the loan deal permanent, although they could return for the full-back once he recovers from the setback.
Willems made 20 appearances for the Magpies before sustaining the season-ending injury, scoring twice and registering three assists.
Barney Corkhill
