Schalke's Japanese forward Soichiro Kozuki will be out of action for several weeks due to ankle surgery, his Bundesliga club said Monday.
The 22-year-old suffered the injury around three weeks ago during training and will have the operation on Tuesday, said Schalke, who are second from bottom and fighting for survival in the 18-team German top flight.
Kozuki left Kyoto Sanga, then in Japan's second division, in 2021 and had a spell in Germany's fifth division before joining Schalke's under-23 side last summer.
He signed his professional contract with the club at the end of 2022 as he was promoted to their first team and scored his first goal in his second appearance in January, during a 6-1 loss to Leipzig.
