Barça's Thomas Vermaelen will miss five months if he has to be operated on

Barcelona defender Thomas Vermaelen is all the time getting closer to the operating room. Finnish doctor Sakari Orava, an expert in hamstring injuries, has confirmed that Barça have been in touch about the Belgian's problems.

Vermaelen signed for Barça in the summer but has been unable to make his debut. An operation would rule him out of action for around five months.

Injured on June 22 and recovering since then, Andoni Zubizarreta had said at the player's presentation he was someone capable of "immediate performances". 

However, that has not proved the case and Barça are now seeking solutions to this never-ending problem. 

If it does go to to the operating room, Vermaelen will hopefully be in capable hands. Orava operated on Josep Guardiola when he had hamstring troubles and recently worked with doctor Ramon Cugat on Barça youngster Pol Calvet.