Roony Bardghji has spoken publicly for the first time since the injury that upended his summer, thanking Barcelona teammates, staff and supporters after tearing the ACL in his right knee during training on Monday.
Barcelona confirmed the diagnosis a day later in a short medical bulletin: “Roony Bardghji has suffered a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He will undergo surgery in the coming days.” The club attached no recovery timetable, but several outlets put the expected absence at six to seven months, an outcome that effectively closes his season before it starts.
The knee that has already stolen a year
The cruelty is in the repetition. Bardghji tore the same right ACL in May 2024 while still at Copenhagen and spent close to a year off the pitch before returning to competitive football. He was 18 then, one of Sweden’s brightest attacking prospects. He is 20 now and about to face the same rehabilitation on the same joint.
His move to Barcelona in the summer of 2025 was pitched as a fresh chapter. Twenty-eight appearances followed in his debut La Liga season, most of them off the bench and yielding two goals.
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Set to leave, now staying
The timing is its own twist. Head coach Hansi Flick had told Bardghji only the previous week to look for a new club, and Barcelona had left the winger out of the squad for the pre-season friendlies against Udinese and Nottingham Forest precisely to protect him from an injury before a move. Premier League interest was described as firm, with the Spanish transfer window closing on 1 September.
Instead of finalizing an exit, he now stays. Rehabilitation will keep him at Barcelona through the winter and, most likely, deep into the spring.
Bardghji’s message through a “difficult 24 hours”
Bardghji broke his silence on Instagram, thanking “the wonderful people at FC Barcelona” for supporting him through what he called a difficult 24 hours. He singled out teammates, staff, the management and the president, and added a separate thank you to the club’s supporters for what he described as incredible backing.
The messages went both ways. Fermín López was among the first Barcelona players to post publicly, writing on Instagram: “We are with you brother ❤️”.
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Surgery is expected in the coming days, with the medical staff at Barcelona overseeing his recovery.
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