Dutch forward Luuk de Jong sustained a traumatic injury during the match against Estoril in the 12th round of Liga Portugal and will be unavailable for Porto on Thursday against Vitoria SC. The player has already responded to the news on social media.
As for the rest of Porto’s squad, Victor Froholdt and Diogo Costa were left out, while Deniz Gul, Yann Karamoh, and Angel Alarcon are available options for Francesco Farioli.
“Yesterday, I received the terrible news that I suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury. I am devastated. After months of hard work and training to get back to helping the team and this wonderful club, FC Porto, it hurts deeply to be sidelined from the pitch once again.
“I will face this challenge with all my strength, determined to return even stronger, both physically and mentally,” wrote De Jong on Instagram.
After an initial assessment at Olival on Monday detected a contusion in his left knee, further tests released this Thursday confirmed an injury to the same knee that had already kept him out of action for two and a half months.
“Following the traumatic incident reported in the medical bulletin after the match against Estoril Praia (1-0), Luuk de Jong suffered a partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
“FC Porto reports that the player is now under the care of the Health Department and wishes him a swift and full recovery, reaffirming the Club’s full support for Luuk de Jong throughout every stage of this process,” read the club’s statement, without specifying a recovery timeline.
On September 8th, the experienced 35-year-old Dutchman was injured in a closed-door friendly against Lusitania de Lourosa, after playing three official matches and scoring once for the Dragons, since his surprise presentation in the pre-season match against Atletico Madrid.
Upon his return to competition, he was being managed to contribute more in December – he played 15 minutes against Sintrense, 18 minutes versus Nice, and another 23 against Estoril – but a knock in that last match will now keep him out for an indefinite period.
The only positive news for Farioli is that the medical staff managed to recover Turkish forward Gul, who is called up to face Vitoria, along with Karamoh and Alarcon. Costa and Froholdt are left out as part of workload management.
