Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas has told Beth Mead to "be strong" and issued a rallying cry for the pair to "be back better" after it was revealed the Arsenal forward suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
Arsenal announced on Tuesday evening that the 27-year-old "is set for an extended period on the sidelines" after sustaining the injury in Arsenal’s dramatic 3-2 Women’s Super League loss to Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
The England star now faces a fight against time to be back fit for next summer's Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
And amid the flood of online support messages, successive Ballon d’Or winner Putellas, who cruelly ruptured her ACL on the eve of the summer’s European Championships, issued her own words of encouragement to Mead.
Putellas wrote on Twitter: "Be strong @bmeado9 we will be back better" followed by three flexing arm emojis.
Mead, who failed to dethrone Putellas from the Ballon d'Or this year and finished a close second behind the Spanish striker, replied: "You know it" followed by another flexing arm and a red heart.
This season, Mead has extended her remarkable form during the Lionesses' Euro 2022 triumph, in which the forward was named Player of the Tournament and claimed the Golden Boot with six goals, to club level. The Arsenal star has notched three goals in the WSL and two in the Champions League for the Gunners so far, making her joint-top goalscorer in all competitions.
The form coincided with Arsenal's perfect start to the WSL season, sullied only by the recent loss to United. For manager Jonas Eidevall, Mead's injury will come as a huge blow with the WSL title race now cranking up against United, Manchester City and reigning champions Chelsea.
With the World Cup around the corner, Mead will be determined to return to fitness to be in contention for Sarina Wiegman's squad. Mead has scored 29 goals for England and earned her 50th cap in the Lionesses' penultimate game of the year, a 4-0 friendly victory over Japan.
According to Arsenal’s official statement, Mead will be seeing a surgeon "in the coming days".
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