Jerome Boateng out six weeks following surgery

Jerome Boateng is set to miss six weeks following surgery on Tuesday. The Bayern Munich centerback had surgery to repair an injured pectoral muscle tendon.

"The operation went very well. If there are no problems with the healing process,” Bayern’s chief medic Dr. Volker Braun said. “Jérôme Boateng will be unavailable for approximately six weeks.“

This is the second straight season in which Boateng, widely considered the world’s best centerback, will miss extended time due to an injury. Regardless of the manager, Bayern’s centerback injury woes continue.

Six weeks puts Boateng’s return at the end of January or early February, ahead of the first Champions League match against Arsenal.

In the meantime, Carlo Ancelotti will rely on Mats Hummels and Javi Martinez as his regular starting centerbacks with Holger Badstuber and David Alaba as the backups. This, of course, is a grouping that most clubs around the world would kill to have.