LYON: France international striker Nabil Fekir will undergo knee surgery on Monday after picking up the serious injury playing against Portugal last week, his Ligue 1 club Lyon confirmed.

The operation will be carried out by Dr Bertrand Sonnery-Cottet in the private Jean-Mermoz Hospital in Lyon in south-east France.

Fekir, 22, lasted just 13 minutes of his first international start in a 1-0 friendly victory against Portugal in Lisbon before succumbing to what was later confirmed as a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

The Lyon star, who made his full international debut against Brazil in March and has won five caps, will be out for around six months and already faces a race against time to recover form and fitness before the European Championship.

France coach Didier Deschamps described the long-term loss of the exciting Lyon attacker as a “body blow” for the Euro 2016 hosts.