Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has suggested that he could be facing up to "half a year" on the sidelines after fracturing his metatarsal.
The 31-year-old picked up the injury during a training session at the club's Sabener Strasse base last month, which was expected to keep him out of contention until January.
That initial prognosis appears to be wide of the mark, however, as Germany international Neuer believes that the injury could take until the closing stages of the campaign to fully heal.
"The wound has to stay clean and heal by itself," he told Bayern's official website. "Then the healing within the foot takes place. That can even take half a year."
Neuer, who has been forced to play with a metal plate in his foot for the past nine years, also missed a chunk of last season with a similar problem.
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