Roony Bardghji tears knee ligament, transfer plans scrapped

Talk about a plot twist. Just a week ago, Roony Bardghji had his bags practically packed to leave Barcelona this summer. Today, that plan has completely vanished, and not because of a decision by the club or the player, but because of an injury that changes everything.

The Swedish winger tore the ACL in his knee during Monday's training session. Follow-up medical tests confirmed the worst: he'll undergo surgery in the coming days and will be out of action for several months. He's 20 years old and already knows what it's like to go through this same ordeal, since back in 2024, while still playing for Copenhagen, he tore the ligament in that same knee.

What's striking, or maybe just cruel, is how the sequence of events unfolded. Bardghji wasn't even included in the squad for last Saturday's preseason friendlies against Nottingham Forest and Udinese. The idea was to protect him, to avoid any risk ahead of a possible move elsewhere. And yet the injury struck two days later, during a routine training session, right when the danger seemed to have passed.

From cashing in to staying put to recover

Hansi Flick had made it clear to him last week that he should look for a new club, since he was set to see very little playing time at Barca next season. With the arrivals of Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi up front, his spot in the rotation was only going to get tighter. In fact, the club already had inquiries on the table from several European teams, some from the Premier League, and everything pointed to negotiations picking up speed within days.

Now all of that is on hold. With this injury, Bardghji will have to stay in Barcelona to recover, and any departure is postponed, at the very least, until he's fit to compete again.

Barca signed him from Copenhagen last summer in a deal worth close to 2 million euros. He spent most of the season that just ended as a backup to Lamine Yamal: 28 appearances and 2 goals, almost always coming off the bench. Now, instead of negotiating his future, he'll have to focus on something far more urgent: walking without pain again, and then, eventually, running like he used to.