Galaxy's Alessandrini out 4-5 months after knee surgery

LA Galaxy midfielder Romain Alessandrini will be sidelined until September after undergoing his third knee surgery.

The Galaxy announced Friday that Alessandrini needed meniscus root repair in his left knee after getting hurt two weeks ago. The cartilage injury is fairly rare.

The 30-year-old French designated player attempted to play through the injury last weekend against Houston, but came off after 16 minutes. He had surgery Thursday at the Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Santa Monica.

"I'm very disappointed but I will not give up, not now and never," Alessandrini wrote in an Instagram post. "Someone told me athletes build themselves in adversity. Once again, I'm in the middle of it."

Alessandrini joined the Galaxy from Marseille in 2017 and became their best player. The attacking midfielder scored 24 goals in 50 games during his first two seasons with the five-time MLS champions, and he teamed up well with Zlatan Ibrahimovic after the Swedish superstar arrived last season.

But Alessandrini missed a month of the current season with a hamstring injury before his latest knee injury, and he hadn't scored a goal in five appearances this season. Without Alessandrini as a complement and creator for Ibrahimovic, the Galaxy have struggled for offensive impact beyond Zlatan, who has scored six of the team's last eight goals.

"(Alessandrini) is very important for us, but we need to figure it out with the other players," Galaxy coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto said. "We have to work, and maybe make some different tactics or no, but we're going to fight. We know what we are losing, but we are confident with our other players."

Alessandrini has 24 goals and 22 assists in 61 MLS games.

The Galaxy also parted ways with goal-scorers Giovani Dos Santos and Ola Kamara in a three-day span shortly before the regular season began. Despite their offensive imbalance, the Galaxy are off to an outstanding 6-1-1 start under new coach Schelotto after missing the playoffs in each of the past two seasons.

Schelotto said he hopes Alessandrini will return to their roster in time for the stretch run of the regular season. The Galaxy also are looking to add another offense-minded player before the transfer window closes May 7, general manager Dennis Te Kloese said recently.

Source: AP