Ciro Immobile has been ruled out until at least 2023 after the Italian forward suffered a hamstring injury during Lazio’s 0-0 draw against Udinese on Sunday.
Maurizio Sarri had expressed concerns about the 32-year-old striker’s condition in his post-match press conference after Immobile was substituted in the 29th minute with an injury.
While the timeline for his recovery is uncertain, according to La Gazzetta dello Sporthis injury may be a bigger concern for Sarri than first feared, with the Italian newspaper confirming Immobile is suffering from an ‘average hamstring injury’ that could keep him sidelined until January.
Ciro Immobile (left) was substituted on Sunday during Lazio’s 0-0 draw against Udinese
It has been reported that the attacker (pictured) will be out with a hamstring injury until January 2023
Lazio, currently fifth in Serie A, faces a slew of games before the World Cup kicks off in November and will play seven games in a three-week span across all competitions.
Those include two tough away games against Atalanta and Roma, before Juventus hosted them on November 13, posing a selection dilemma for the Lazio coach, who will have to miss his star striker for those games.
Immobile has been a huge force for Lazio this season, with the forward netting six times in seven Serie A appearances for I Biancocelesti.
Immobile is also currently at the top of the Serie A top scorers list along with Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic and Bologna’s Marko Arnautovic.
Maurizio Sarri (left) faces a selection dilemma with his main striker Immobile (right) offside
And the Italian has also been influential for his club in Europe, with a goal and two assists in four Europa League appearances.
There is no doubt that he will be a huge miss for Sarri by the end of the year, with the Italian coach now having to look to Pedro or Felipe Anderson to fill the gap left by their top striker.
“It won’t be the same without him,” Sarri told DAZN afterwards Sunday’s game.
“We hope that will be for as short a time as possible. We let 48 hours go by, run the tests and see what the situation is.
“Last season we had to do without him a couple of times, with a False 9 so as not to give any reference points to the opposition defence. When you talk about certain players, they are of course difficult to replace without negative effects.’
Immobile (left) is jointly at the top of the Serie A top scorer ladder, scoring six times this season
Sarri (pictured) also targeted the condition of the pitch after the game against Udinese
Sarri also criticized the condition of his club’s pitch after the game, suggesting that his playing style was not suited to the Stadio Olimpico grass and that if it remained in the same condition, the club should find someone to replace him.
“We had prepared a series of moves from behind and cut everything off in the warm-up, because trying to play the ball closely on that pitch is like unleashing a bomb. I don’t know what the president is up to, but he may need a different coach because I can’t play regularly on a pitch like that, or we’re going to play somewhere else.
“I’m a coach who wants his teams to make 700 strides to foot in every game, I’m not suited to this kind of pitch so if this stays the pitch then the club will have to think about someone else.”
