RB Leipzig have announced that Germany forward Timo Werner has sustained an ankle ligament injury and will miss the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The 26-year-old has made a bright start to life back with the Bundesliga club following his summer transfer from Chelsea, scoring nine goals and providing four assists in 16 appearances across all competitions.
Werner headed into Wednesday's Champions League showdown with Shakhtar Donetsk in fine form after finding the net in each of his last three games.
However, the forward went down holding his left ankle in just the 19th minute after attempting to play a simple pass and he was eventually replaced by Emil Forsberg before Leipzig went on to win 4-0 in Poland.
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A statement on Leipzig's official website read: "Bad news for Timo Werner and RB Leipzig! The striker injured his left ankle in the win over Shakhtar Donetsk and was taken off in the 19th minute.
"Scans today in Leipzig showed that he has unfortunately torn the syndesmosis ligament in his left ankle. Timo Werner will therefore be out for the rest of 2022.
"A decision on his treatment will be made in the coming days."
Werner has been a key asset for the German national team since Hansi Flick took charge in August last year, scoring eight goals in 13 appearances.
However, Flick is unable to call upon the 55-cap international and has expressed his disappointment to have lost an important player less than three weeks before the tournament is scheduled to begin.
"It's very sad news. I feel really sorry for Timo that he will miss a World Cup that he was determined to play at," Flick told @DFB_Team.
"Above all though, his absence is a big loss for the team. We all wish him a speedy recovery!"
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Werner, who has scored a total of 24 goals for Germany since his international debut in 2017, played three times at the 2018 World Cup, before representing Die Mannschaft on three occasions at Euro 2020.
Germany are also sweating over the fitness of veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who has missed Bayern Munich's last seven games across all competitions.
The 36-year-old, who won the 2014 World Cup with Die Mannschaft, has also revealed that he required three operations on his face after being diagnosed with skin cancer.
Bayer Leverkusen starlet Florian Wirtz is another player who is doubtful for the tournament in Qatar; the 19-year-old attacker has been sidelined since March with an ACL injury but he has recently returned to training and has allegedly been included in Flick's provisional World Cup squad.
Flick is required to confirm his 26-man squad by November 13, and his Germany team will take on Japan in their opening Group E fixture 10 days later.
Oliver Thomas
