Roma director Tiago Pinto assures Georginio Wijnaldum is feeling ‘positive’ the day after his leg fracture, while shrugging off new Nicolò Zaniolo speculation regarding Chelsea.
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The Giallorossi were stunned last night when a statement from the medical staff confirmed Wijnaldum had sustained a fractured tibia during a training ground accidental collision.
It is not yet clear how long he will be out for, but the predictions are at least three months.
As Wijnaldum is on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, the Ligue 1 side must be consulted along with the Netherlands staff before a decision is made on how to proceed.
“We were so enthusiastic, but this is football, we cannot let the enthusiasm stall,” Tiago Pinto told DAZN.
“It’s disappointing, as we worked so hard and took such a long time to get him here. The good news is that he too is feeling positive today. We just need to take a moment and decide what is best for him.
“We are sure he will return stronger than ever.”
Jose Mourinho sent a message via social media attacking the ‘scum’ who were trying to blame Felix Afena-Gyan for the injury, without the slightest shred of evidence.
“I want to thank the few media outlets who did not try to seek out someone to blame,” added Tiago Pinto.
Roma players all wore Wijnaldum’s 25 jersey during the warm-up today, with a message stating ‘Forza Gini!’ on the front.
There have been reports that this injury will force the Capital club back onto the transfer market to find a replacement for Wijnaldum.
“We have time to think about what we need to do for the team.”
The newspapers also had stories that after Tottenham Hotspur, now Chelsea were also interested in Zaniolo.
“I was just joking with the press officer earlier that I’ve had maybe 30-35 interviews before games and 90 per cent of the questions were about Zaniolo! He is in good shape, he’s playing well, when the transfer window shuts we are here ready to talk about a new contract.”