Diarra may need another operation

Mahamadou Diarra’s future at Fulham appears to be in jeopardy after manager Martin Jol revealed the midfielder may require a third operation on his injured knee and is unlikely to feature again this season.

The 31-year-old has played just five times for the club this term and has undergone surgery either side of his last appearance – the 3-0 home defeat against Tottenham on 1 December.

Jol had hoped Diarra would make a successful recovery but the former Real Madrid player’s contract is up at the end of the season and there is no clear indication that an end to the problem is in sight.

“It will be complicated without another operation to get him fit again so we need to sit down with the surgeon and make a decision,” Jol admitted.

“I think he will be out for the next couple of months. He had an operation, came back and then had another operation but it is still a niggling thing.

“It’s painful so we will go back to the surgeon and ask for different advice.

“Hopefully in a couple of months we will sit down again and have a look at him and we have to make a decision [on his contract situation].”

Diarra was one of the most highly-rated midfielders in Europe and joined Real Madrid from Lyon in 2002.

After initial concerns over his fitness there, Jol managed to pick him up on a free transfer following Diarra’s year-long spell with Monaco.

And the Whites boss added: “It was quite a boost to get a player of his quality – he was the main man last year when he came in and was one of the most important players.

“But of course he has to be fit and if he isn’t he can’t do anything for us. This season he had two or three problems with his knee and it was a big problem for us.

“You never know; he promised me he will get fit again and he is [almost] 32, so why not?

“He said he had the same problem with his other knee and that was even worse but that knee is good now so hopefully he is right and he will come back fitter.”

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