Coming back from the winter break, Inter fans across the country were hoping the match versus Sassuolo and Torino would finally be the day the Nerazzurri buck the trends that have been plaguing the team.
Unfortunately they were unable to do so as Inter’s inexplicably poor performances against Sassuolo and Torino continued and the team showed us their annual January blues.
But, most importantly for the sake of the topic at hand, Inter failed to break their unlucky run of injuries. Save for just under a full half of football, Luciano Spalletti hasn’t had a full complement of players at his disposal. For a short while it looked as if that was finally going to change.
Going into the winter break the team had been dealing with a few knocks, but the two weeks off gave everyone a chance to rest and get healthy. No new injuries were sustained versus Beneveto and all ineligible players served their suspensions. But unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be as a surprise injury sidelined one of the squad’s most important players of late.
Upcoming Match: Inter vs Lazio at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milano’s San Siro disrict; Thursday, January 31st; 21:00 CET
First Team Fitness:
Keita Balde Diao: Last week the Senegalese international was a surprising add to the injury list after a training session. Initial concerns of a thigh injury were confirmed with an MRI later that day. The club have released little details on the specifics of the injury but did note he suffered a “muscular distraction to the biceps femoris of the right thigh” in the official announcement. All of this being a fancy way of saying he strained one of his right hamstring muscles.
Inter did state that he would be re-evaluated again the following week which suggests it may not be that serious. However various reports have since emerged saying the injury would sideline him for approximately 3 weeks. Without knowing the specifics of the injury, it’s difficult to say if a 3 week timeline is accurate. Hamstrings are notorious for sustaining reinjuries, so the medical staff and Keita Balde may err on the side of caution rather than rush back.
Keita Balde’s absence is significant. For the past several months he’s been the team’s best winger having actively participated in scoring buildup. At a point it even seemed he had usurped Ivan Perisic to become a regular of the Starting XI, but the injury could put that at risk. With Perisic’s drop in performance this season, the team will miss Diao’s presence in the attack and clearly already have against Sassuolo and Torino.
Sime Vrsaljko: Midweek last week, Sky Sports Italia reported the starting right back was in doubt for the match against Torino due to lingering issues with the MCL injury he sustained during last summer’s World Cup. Days later he was officially ruled out.
At Saturday’s press conference Spalletti awknowledged the injury and stated that the club, Vrsalko’s group, and parent club Atletico Madrid were discussing all options that would be best. Since then both Spanish outlet AS and Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport have reported surgery is being considered to fix the issue once and for all. Should he opt for this route, his season will be done and Inter will send him back to Madrid.
The course of the entire situation is strange. Based on the information provided to the public about his MCL injury, a 4 to 6 week rest should have been enough for Vrsaljko to recover.
However his persistent pain could be due to any number of factors, from it having been more serious from the beginning to it never healed fully. It seems to be an unfortunate end of his Inter spell for the Croatian defender.
Avi Saini is a 27 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.
