Paris Saint-Germain pushed for back surgery surgery to be performed on Inter defender Milan Skriniar due to concerns about the player’s fitness ahead of his expected transfer this summer.
This according to today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews, who report that there were never serious doubts about the 28-year-old’s move to the French capital going ahead, but that the Parisians pressed for him to undergo a back operation.
Inter confirmed yesterday that Skriniar underwent an endoscopic operation to his lumbar spine to address a back issue that he has been dealing with since the end of February.
Given the timeline for recovery from the procedure, the Slovakian international looks set to miss the rest of the season for the Nerazzurri, although there is a possibility of his being fit for the Champions League final if the team are to make it that far.
What is certain, Tuttosport, is that a lot of the timing of the decision to perform surgery has been at the behest of PSG.
Whilst the operation has not come at an ideal time for Inter, with the club in the midst of the most gruelling period in the fixture calendar and in need of all the contributions they can get from their squad, it has been deemed necessary for guarantees about Skriniar’s long-term fitness.
A couple days ago there was a report that PSG could even make the shock move of pulling out of their deal to sign the former Sampdoria defender when his contract with Inter expires.
The report suggested that the Ligue 1 side were considering pulling out of the deal in the event that there were any concerns about the player’s long-term fitness based on his medicals.
According to Tuttosport, the Parisians have not really seriously considered making a U-turn by not Skriniar, but they did push for back surgery to be performed before the end of the season so that they could feel more secure about the player’s fitness before signing him.
