Luka Modric will not play again for AC Milan this season after undergoing surgery on a cheekbone fracture suffered in his team's goalless draw with Juventus, a source with knowledge of the matter told AFP on Monday.
Croatia captain Modric is expected to be out of action for between six to eight weeks but should be free to play in the upcoming World Cup, potentially with a face mask, the source said.
The 40-year-old will, however, have to sit out Milan's final four games of the Serie A season after clashing heads with Juve midfielder Manuel Locatelli at the San Siro on Sunday.
Modric subsequently left the field with an ice pack to his face, with Milan revealing earlier on Monday that he had fractured his left cheekbone and would need to go under the knife.
"Surgery was needed on a complex, multi-fragment fracture of the left cheekbone. The operation... was perfectly successful," said Milan in a short statement.
Milan did not say for how long Modric would be out of action, but the latest club statement added that Milan "hoped for a quick recovery in view of the World Cup" for Modric, hinting that his club season was over.
Last summer, Modric signed a one-year contract with the seven-time European champions, with an option to extend the deal through to the end of next season.
Milan are on course to return to the Champions League, with Massimiliano Allegri's team third in Italy's top flight, six points ahead of fifth- and sixth-placed Como and Roma ahead of Sunday's trip to Sassuolo.