Angel Correa underwent surgery in New York for a heart problem originally detected in his medical before he signed for Atletico Madrid on May 28.
On Thursday, Matias Lemmens, president of his current club San Lorenzo, said that he would be unable to play for six months. At what should be his future club there is no indication of how long he might be out for, but there is optimism given the player's current state of health.
During his medical in Madrid, a lump was detected in one of the ventricles in his heart. Later tests confirmed this was a benign tumour, with no immediate risk to the player, but that there was a latent threat, with a leak caused by the tumour being potentially fatal.
Atletico assisted in the player in seeking out the best doctors specialised in treating the condition, and having analysed the risks the player opted to have treatment at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, a reference centre for this type of micro-surgery.
The procedure consists of accessing the ventricle through an artery in order to remove the tumour. With elite athletes, such as Correa, one of the aims of the procedure is to avoid damaging the wall of the heart, which could affect performance in the future.
The operation was a complete success, with the player having no discomfort just five hours after surgery.
As a precaution he stayed in the hospital for several days before being discharged, and a couple of weeks ago he began light rehabilitation.
The player is currently in Madrid, but in around two weeks he'll travel to Argentina to spend time with his mother and his brothers. He'll come back to Madrid after that to complete his recovery.
Atletico still intend to sign the player, with no variation in the amounts involved. The Spanish club will pay 8 million euros for the 19-year-old, once he's passed his medical.
However, no timeframe has been set. It could be that the player won't be ready to be able to sign in the transfer window in August, but in that case the plan would simply be to wait until January and the winter transfer window.
For Atleti there is no rush. Their only concern is to see the striker fully recovered.