UPDATE: Thiago refutes injury reports

Did you think it could get worse for Thiago Alcantara, because it apparently can. After sustaining two ACL injuries in the final four months of last season, it looked like the 24-year-old Spanish international was finally going to be able to resume training and playing soon. Now, according to Merkur (confirmed by Sport1), a cortizone treatment applied by Thiago's personal physician has apparently re-damaged his knee and has shifted his timetable of return until sometime in October.

With the season just around the corner, it's quite possible that Bayern Munich will be without one of their best creative players until well past the quarter season mark. Couple with his syndesmosis tear last September, that will bring the totality of injured time with Bayern Munich somewhere close to a staggering 11 months. Considering he'll have only been with the club for 16 months, that's not exactly an auspicious beginning. While it's certainly too early to know the full extent of the damage, we should be very wary of the timetable until the club does a full examination of the injury. In all likelihood, expect a longer shelf prognosis then just an extra month.

His absence, along with the continued injury woes of Franck Ribery, basically assures Xherdan Shaqiri more playing time in the upcoming season.

UPDATE: Taking to Twitter, Thiago Alcantara has refuted the reports from Merkur and Sport1

There is no relapse! I keep working every day to strengthen my knee and be back as strong as I expected

— Thiago Alcantara (@Thiago6) August 11, 2014