Arsenal-linked Real Madrid star Rodrygo has suffered a major injury setback, with the winger set to miss at least the next seven months with an ACL tear.
Reports on Tuesday confirmed bad news for Real Madrid’s Rodrygo, with the player ruled out of action for a minimum of seven months with an ACL injury.
The winger is set to undergo knee surgery in the coming days, but even prior to the operation it’s clear he’ll be out for the rest of the 2025/26 campaign, as well as missing the World Cup with Brazil this summer.
Arsenal had been linked with Rodrygo throughout the 2025 summer, and links had started to pick up again in January. But there’s now no prospect of a summer move to north London, with the Brazilian not expected back until October at the earliest.
“One of the worst days of my life, how much I always feared this injury,” Rodrygo wrote on Instagram. “Maybe life has been a little cruel to me lately… I don’t know if I deserve this, but what can I complain about? How many wonderful things I’ve already experienced, which I also didn’t deserve.
“I’m out for the rest of the season with my club and out of the World Cup with my country, a dream that everyone knows how much it means to me.”
A knock-on effect of the injury is that Gabriel Martinelli is even more likely to be involved in the World Cup with Brazil this summer.
Martinelli was already often receiving call-ups when fellow winger Rodrygo was available, but his position is even more secure now that the 25-year-old is sidelined.
Manchester City had also been considering a move for Rodrygo last summer, so the two Premier League title contenders will have to look elsewhere if they want to sign a winger in the upcoming transfer window.