Demba Ba suffered a horrific injury in the Chinese Super League's Shanghai derby on Sunday.
The 31-year-old Shanghai Shenhua striker appeared to badly break his leg in a tangle with a Shanghai SIPG FC defender.
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The Senegal international was taken off on 70 minutes as Fredy Guarin's late penalty saw Shenhua pick up a 2-1 win after almost 10 minutes of injury time which included the sending off of Jiajie Wang.
"It could end his professional career," said Shenhua coach Gregorio Manzano.