Barcelona's Rafinha cleared to play after lengthy absence

After eight months on the treatment table and two surgeries to repair a torn meniscus, Barcelona midfielder Rafinha has been medically cleared to resume first-team duties.

La Liga table-topper Barca announced the news Monday, adding the player's latest arthroscopic procedure was successful and subsequently received approval from the club's doctors.

Rafinha, 24, hasn't played since injuring his knee in April against Granada, capping a frustrating 2016-17 campaign that saw the Sao Paulo-born player make 18 La Liga appearances while juggling a laundry list of ailments. It was a microcosm of the twice-capped Brazil international's tenure at the Camp Nou.

A product of the club's famed La Masia academy, Rafinha broke through the first-team ranks in 2011, but has since made just 31 league starts for the Catalan heavyweight. A reliable option under Luis Enrique, it remains to be seen what his duties will be under current boss Ernesto Valverde.

The summer addition of Paulinho, who has been a surprise source of goals for the Blaugrana, will make Rafinha's opportunities harder to come by, as Valverde rotates formations with some combination of Paulinho, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, and Ivan Rakitic in the midfield. One option could be sliding Rafinha out wide to cover for Paco Alcacer's injury and Gerard Deulofeu's massive drop in form.