Injury woe for Saviola

Javier Saviola will be unable to play for between four and six weeks.

Barcelona have suffered another huge setback with the news that Javier Saviola will be unable to play for between four and six weeks after picking up a thigh injury.

The Argentinian striker tore his left thigh muscle in the closing seconds of Sunday's win over Real Zaragoza and tests have now revealed that it could be the New Year before he returns to action.

"The injury is in a dangerous place and that is why we estimate that it will be around four to six weeks before the player will have made a full recovery," the club's medical team stated.

With Samuel Eto'o out for another four months with knee ligament damage and Lionel Messi set to miss three months after breaking his fifth metatarsal on Sunday evening, Barca are short of attacking options.

For this weekend's encounter at Real Mallorca, coach Frank Rijkaard only has Ronaldinho, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Ludovic Giuly and Santiago Ezquerro as fit attacking options to fill the three forward positions.

Due to this predicament, the club are reported to be scouring the transfer market to make an emergency signing and have already asked Helsingborgs if they would allow Henrik Larsson to return on loan.

The Swedish league has stopped for the winter and Larsson is already well known to Barca after he spent a very successful spell at the club that ended in the summer when he opted to return home for family reasons.