Alan Pulido to miss 2022 MLS season due to knee injury

Mexican striker Alan Pulido will undergo surgery on his left knee on January 17 in Los Angeles, which will cause him to miss the 2022 campaign with Sporting Kansas City, reported the MLS club, which expects a recovery period of 9 to 12 months.

Peter Vermes, coach of Kansas, stated this Tuesday, in a press conference, that Pulido will have to undergo surgery following a knee injury he suffered while playing with the Mexican national team last year. He is expected to be out for almost a year.

Pulido underwent arthroscopic treatment in October; however, Vermes said that the Mexican player continued to suffer pain in his knee during training afterwards.

In the last conference held last year, the coach had already talked about Pulido's knee pains

The Mexican international grinded through 21 appearances and 1,449 total regular-season minutes, but SKC's Designated Player was never 100%, club manager and sporting director Peter Vermes revealed that time.

"It was something that he was fighting through the whole time," Vermes said in his end-of-season media availability Thursday. "The amount of inflammation that was growing after a game or training on certain days, and the amount of fluid that needed draining out of his knee, I give him a lot of credit. He is definitely a tough guy, he is definitely a guy that fights through it, but in the end, it just wasn’t right. I would say for probably three quarters of the year. And here at the end, unfortunately the same."

Kansas City FC will go for a new striker to replace the Mexican forward

Vermes and the coaching staff of the Kansas City team will wait for the final decision after the surgery to know if Alan Pulido will be out for the rest of the year, as mentioned in the official statement issued by the club, and although Vermes pointed out that it will be difficult to find a replacement with Pulido's qualities, Kansas City is looking for a new striker.

Pulido first joined Sporting KC in December 2019. In his two seasons in Kansas City, he has 15 goals and eight assists, starting 29 of 36 games played.

He previously played for the Liga MX clubs Guadalajara (2016-19) and Tigres UANL (2010-14) in his native Mexico, along with stints in Greece with Levadiakos and Olympiacos.

Pulido has earned 20 caps and scored five goals with the Mexican national team.