Arsenal attacker Lukas Podolski faces three months out due to a hamstring tear.
Arsenal's medical staff were already resigned to losing the forward for between eight and 10 weeks, but their counterparts with the German national team have run further tests and insist Podolski faces even longer on the sidelines.
Dr Hans-Muller Wohlfahrt examined Podolski in Munich and found the 28-year-old had a hamstring tear in his left leg, which will keep him out until December.
Podolski told BILD: "Unfortunately I'll be out a long while, around three months."
