Joel Campbell suffers major knee injury while representing Costa Rica in Gold Cup

Arsenal and Costa Rica striker Joel Campbell has suffered a massive injury blow during his country's Gold Cup draw against Canada. The forward has picked up a major injury in his right knee which will take anywhere between four to six months for recovery.

This is a blow for the Gunners, who had primed the forward for a transfer this window, with only a year left on his current contract. The former Deportivo Saprissa forward has failed to break into the senior setup in a convincing manner and it was looking likely Arsenal would look to offload him on a permanent basis in the summer.

Campbell is definitely ruled out of the Gold Cup, which will come as a major blow to Costa Rica's ambitions of winning the CONCACAF's regional title, while also putting his Gunners future in doubt.

He has been sent on loan to a host of European clubs, with the latest being Sporting Lisbon, where he spent the better part of last season. He has completed just one full season – during the 2015/16 campaign - and the first half of the 2014/15 campaign with the Gunners since joining the club in 2011. He has made 23 appearances in the Premier League but completed the full 90 minutes just once.

"We will see what the doctors say, but it is a pretty big tear and I will have to undergo an operation," the 25-year-old told reporters.

"Leaving the national team is sad and hard to do. It is complicated when you get injured like this, it keeps you out of competitions and from representing your country. I gave it everything, as I always do. Now I have to think about my recovery to come back stronger than ever," Campbell said on his personal website, as quoted by Goal. "I have to keep my head up and think about what's to come in the hands of God, my family and all those around me."