Injury crisis hits Eagles stars in Europe

No fewer than six Super Eagles players are sidelined with injuries at a point in the season when their clubs are settling into new campaigns, handing rivals for their places a head start just as rotations and pecking orders are being decided, with the timing arguably a bigger concern for some of them at club level and for the national team ahead of the September international window, PETER AKINBO writes

Christantus Uche

Getafe midfielder, Christantus Uche, has undergone successful surgery after suffering a serious knee injury in a pre-season friendly on August 6, when a reckless tackle by Monaco’s Christian Mawissa, with his studs showing, left him with multiple tears to the ligaments and meniscus in his right knee. Medical staff had to stretcher him off the pitch.

The injury has ruled him out for the rest of the season, denying him the chance to rebuild his standing at Getafe after a difficult loan spell at Crystal Palace last term, where he made only 22 appearances and 477 minutes of Premier League football before the English club opted against making the move permanent.

The 23-year-old also misses the Super Eagles’ qualifying double-header and, most likely, the tournament finals. Sharing a photo of himself after the operation, Uche thanked his surgeon and everyone at Getafe for standing by him through the ordeal, adding that he trusts the process of recovery ahead.

Sadiq Umar

Valencia striker, Sadiq Umar, has picked up a hamstring injury to his right leg after scoring in the club’s 3-1 win over Deportivo de La Coruña last weekend, a spell of form that had put him in contention for a more regular role up front after starting the match and playing the full 90 minutes.

Umar reported for training on the Monday after the game with a limp, and further assessment by Analytica Fantasy suggested the issue was in his hamstring before Valencia’s own medical team confirmed the injury.

Valencia say the 29-year-old will undergo a tailored programme of treatment, physiotherapy and rehabilitation at the club’s training ground, but have not given a firm return date, leaving him to watch from the sidelines as his side’s attacking options are settled without him. It is unknown, as at the time of this report, whether the injury will also rule him out of the September qualifiers.

Fisayo Dele-Bashiru

Lazio midfielder, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, sustained a tear in his right thigh during the club’s 1-0 Serie A win over Bologna and was forced off in the 54th minute, with Davide Frattesi coming on to score the game’s only goal five minutes later. He is expected to be out for at least three weeks.

The injury comes just as the 25-year-old had won a starting role from coach Gennaro Gattuso following an encouraging pre-season, including an impressive display in Lazio’s Coppa Italia defeat to Mantova, and it now threatens to hand that place back to a rival while he recovers.

He is expected to miss Lazio’s matches against Genoa, Udinese, AC Milan and possibly Venezia, while his Super Eagles involvement this month also hangs in the balance, with a recovery timeline that would only just clear him in time for Nigeria’s qualifiers, if at all.

Zaidu Sanusi

Porto full-back, Zaidu Sanusi, faces around two months out after medical tests confirmed an adductor injury to his right leg, sustained in the 17th minute of a 3-0 win over Académico de Viseu, forcing coach Francesco Farioli to send on Martim Fernandes in his place.

He had started every minute of Porto’s league campaign this season before the injury, and Farioli, who described the setback as “something very serious” immediately after the match, must now settle on a long-term replacement in a position Sanusi had made his own, at a time when the Portuguese club, unbeaten in four league games, are also managing the final year of his contract without an extension yet agreed.

Nigeria’s September qualifiers are now certainly out of reach for the 29-year-old, a blow that also leaves coach Eric Chelle with a fresh selection headache.

Tochukwu Nnadi

Marseille midfielder, Tochukwu Nnadi, picked up a knee injury during his side’s 2-0 defeat to Monaco.

Nnadi is yet to cement a regular starting spot under new coach, Bruno Genesio, and time out now could cost him the chance he had been building towards, while a possible late move before the transfer deadline, which might have guaranteed him more regular football elsewhere, has also been complicated by his fitness, since clubs are typically wary of signing a player who cannot immediately be assessed.

His place in Chelle’s squad for the September qualifiers is a lesser concern by comparison, given the 23-year-old only made his Super Eagles debut this year, though he will be racing to be fit in time for Marseille.

 Yira Sor

Amedspor winger, Yira Sor, has been ruled out for six weeks after suffering a Grade 2B hamstring injury measuring approximately eleven centimetres in his left biceps femoris.

The 26-year-old had only just made his Super Lig debut following a €3m move from Genk this summer and was beginning to settle into his new side, having featured in a 3-0 win over Erzurumspor before the injury struck in Amedspor’s 2-1 comeback victory over Trabzonspor, a match in which he had scored the equaliser before Gift Orban completed the turnaround.

The setback could cost him early momentum at a club still getting to know him.