After the announcement of a tuberculosis case in the first team of PSV Eindhoven, it has now been made public that the case involves new signing Lucas Perez. The striker faces the end of the season.
PSV Eindhoven will have to do without Lucas Perez for the next few months. As the club announced on Monday, a player in the professional squad has contracted tuberculosis. According to information from the Spanish sports newspaper Marca and the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, the player in question is the Spanish striker.
Perez, who was only introduced to the Dutch champions at the end of February, will be absent from the club for at least a month. With this lung disease, an isolation period of three to four weeks is necessary, during which the affected person must undergo intensive antibiotic therapy.
It is uncertain whether the striker will be able to play for PSV against Ajax Amsterdam again in the title race until the end of the season, as the recovery time is difficult to estimate. The team will host the defending champions and leaders from Amsterdam in the Philips Stadium on Sunday. Currently, the two clubs are separated by six points.
The 36-year-old was originally signed as a replacement for former Augsburg player Ricardo Pepi, who had suffered a serious knee injury. Prior to that, another center forward, Luuk de Jong, had already been ruled out.
Contract only until the end of the season
Perez made three brief appearances under coach Peter Bosz: in the cup semi-final against Go Ahead Eagles Deventer (1-2) and in two league games, again against the Eagles (2-3) and against RKC Waalwijk (3-0). In total, the newcomer was on the pitch for just 24 minutes for the “Rood-witten”. Since the Spaniard only has a contract until the end of the season, these could have been his last minutes at the Philips Stadium.
The striker has played for various Spanish clubs during his career, most recently for the third time at Deportivo La Coruna, before moving to PSV on a free transfer. Other clubs he has played for abroad include PAOK Salonika, Arsenal and West Ham United.
Cases of tuberculosis are rare in European top-flight football; the last known cases in the Bundesliga were over ten years ago.
