United States and Schalke midfielder Weston McKennie is expected to miss the remainder of the Bundesliga season with a left ankle injury suffered in the U.S.'s 1-0 friendly victory over Ecuador on Thursday, a source has told ESPN FC.
McKennie, 20, left that game in the 68th minute and was later ruled out of this week's friendly against Chile with what Schalke on Monday called a "ruptured" ankle ligament.
U.S. Soccer's description of the injury on Monday was not as ominous, however, stating that McKennie suffered a "moderate to high degree left ankle sprain" and was expected to "miss several weeks."
The former FC Dallas Academy product saw a specialist in Houston over the weekend. No fractures were found, though a source with knowledge of the injury said the midfielder is expected to be out eight weeks.
That timeframe would see McKennie miss the remainder of the Bundesliga season but should allow him to take part in this summer's Gold Cup.
"I think with these injuries you take it week by week in terms of it being an ankle injury and the severity," said U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter. "We're confident that [McKennie is] going to recover in a good way.
"The language of Schalke's release versus our release is semantics. I think it's an ankle sprain. There's some ligament damage, and you wait for the ligaments to heal. You start doing your rehab now; he can start biking, doing pool running now, and he can get there. He'll recover."
McKennie has returned to Germany for treatment.
