Barcelona loanee Sergi Samper ruled out for up to eight weeks after suffering injury at Las Palmas

Barcelona midfielder Sergi Samper has been ruled out for between six and eight weeks less than a fortnight after completing his loan move to Las Palmas. The Canary Island side have confirmed the blow after the Spaniard suffered an injury to his left leg despite having not yet made his debut with his new club.

The 22-year-old midfielder agreed a season-long loan move to Las Palmas on 24 August after the arrival of Paulinho from Guangzhou Evergrande left him without a place in Ernesto Valverde's plans.

Samper spent the last season on loan at Granada but he struggled to make the impact expected as the Andalucian side were relegated following a hectic campaign in which they had three different managers.

Barcelona decided to send him on loan to Las Palmas with hopes the promising midfielder could secure regular time at the Gran Canaria stadium before having a chance to establish himself at the Nou Camp.

The Under-21 Spanish international was expected to be a regular for Manuel Marquez after being identified as the man to fill the huge gap left by the departure of Roque Mesa to Swansea.

However, Samper's adaptation to life at Las Palmas has suffered a major setback after the player sustained an injury during the warm up ahead of a friendly game against local side San Mateo played on Saturday (2 September).

Initial reports suggested that the Barcelona loanee could be ready to return to action in around four weeks but the scan underwent by Samper on Monday [4 September] evening reveal that he could be out for up to eight weeks.

"Samper has suffered a muscle injury to his left leg and will be at least between six and eight weeks out of action, although this period will depend on his clinical evolution," Las Palmas confirmed following tests carried out on the player on Monday.

The Barcelona loanee is thus expected to be out of action until mid-October, missing around six games, including Las Palmas' visit to the Nou Camp on 1 October.