Welcome to the first Weekly Inter Health Report. In this new weekly feature, we will be exploring the current health status of Inter Milan’s first team players and discussing any knocks they may have picked up, relevant medical information about the injury, timetables for return, possible complications from the injury, and the impact on the squad for the upcoming match(es). When possible, we’ll also be exploring the “health” of other general parts of the club including, but not limited to, the youth academy and finances.

Upcoming match: Lazio vs Inter at the Stadio Olimpico on Monday, October 29th, 20.30 CET.

First Team Fitness: 

Šime Vrsaljko: Vrsaljko notably re-injured his medial colateral ligament (MCL) in September, a knock initially sustained during Croatia’s deep World Cup run. He returned in time to play a full 90 minutes in the Milan Derby after missing a little over a month of action but was rested for yesterday’s Champions League loss to FC Barcelona. His benching was likely precautionary and he should be available for selection for the next match.

Radja Nainggolan: During the Milano Derby, Nainggolan suffered an ankle injury in the first half that led to his immediate withdrawal and transport to the hospital for tests and imaging. The club confirmed on Monday that he suffered an “ankle sprain” but have provided little other information.

From the video of the incident we can gather more information about the specifics (warning: the upcoming video shows an up close view of the injury).

From video, we see Lucas Biglia’s challenge forcefully averted Nainggolan’s foot thus putting excess stress on the interior aspect of his left ankle. As a result, it’s likely Nainggolan suffered a medial ankle sprain with involvement of the deltoid ligament.

The deltoid ligament is composed of four different fibers that are either superficial (tibionavicular, tibiocalcaneal, and anterotibiotalar ligaments) or deep (posterior tibiotalar ligament) that are responsible for connecting the tibia to various bones of the foot.

Without information on the number of ligaments involved, the extent of damage to each ligament, and information on if the bone has been involved as a result of the excess strain, it’s impossible to establish a timetable for his possible return though he will certainly miss the upcoming match and likely the return Champions League fixture versus Barcelona. For the time being, we’ll have to wait for the club to provide more information as it becomes available.

Ivan Perišić & Marcelo Brozović: In Sunday’s derby with AC Milan both players left due to thigh strains. While initially doubts for Wednesday’s UCL match, both players were named to the matchday squad and started the match. Brozović played the entirety of the match while Perišić was subbed in the 77th minute for tactical purposes. Neither player suffered a setback during the match and should be available for Monday’s match.

Avi Saini is a 26 year old medical student from California. He’s been an Inter fan since 98 after seeing the wonders of Ronaldo, who he maintains is the true greatest of all time. Avi writes a weekly medical column exclusively for SempreInter.com.