Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain could be out of action for another four months following surgery and may not return to full fitness for a year, the doctor who carried out the operation said.

Doctors at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Tuesday "successfully" performed keyhole surgery to fix a slipped disc that has sidelined the 23-year-old Argentine since late November, Real said on its website.

The doctor who led the surgery, Richard Fessler, said the player could return to competition in four months.

"We found exactly what we expected, there were no problems with the surgery at all and he is recovering very well," he told reporters at the hospital, in a briefing broadcast on Spanish television.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 01/14/2011 page22)