Hakan Calhanoglu suffered a thigh injury in practice, which will sideline him at least for Sunday’s clash against Udinese, like Romelu Lukaku. Considering the timing, he’s not certain to shake it during the international break. Inter will face Roma once Serie A reprises at the beginning of October.
As the club announced, the Turk pulled the flexor muscle in his left thigh, and he will be re-evaluated next week. According to Sky, he will need 15-to-20 days to recuperate. Therefore, he will be a late call for the big match with the Giallorossi.
The injury will force Calhanoglu to skip a game for the first time this season. He has featured in every tilt so far, coming off the bench on two occasions, including the recent Champions League bout against Viktoria Plzen.
Inter will turn primarily to Henrik Mkhitaryan to fill in for the 28-year-old. The veteran was sidelined by a similar problem earlier in the season, but he returned well and started in two of the last three fixtures, turning in a solid shift midweek. Roberto Gagliardini is also set to see an uptick in playing time since the midfield will be one guy short.
Our Take on the Calhanoglu Injury
It’s a problem, but he hasn’t been in terrific form yet, so they can make do without him for a pair of matches. As it has been the case for Napoli and Victor Osimhen, the decision by the club to bring in overqualified backups will be helpful. Despite the mileage on him, Mkhitaryan is still a starting-caliber contributor. Instead, other teams that haven’t enough depth are in trouble. It would be nice to sprinkle in some Kristjan Asllani too.
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