Georginio Wijnaldum at risk of missing World Cup after suffering fractured tibia
By Tom Gott
New Roma signing Georginio Wijnaldum is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after fracturing his tibia during a training session.
The Dutch midfielder joined Roma on loan from Paris Saint-Germain earlier this summer in search of the regular action needed to boost his preparations for the 2022 World Cup, and he made his debut with a 12-minute cameo towards the end of Roma's season-opening victory over Salernitana.
Unfortunately, that stands to be Wijnaldum's only taste of action for some time as Roma have confirmed he fractured his right tibia during a training session.
The news was met with rumours that young forward Felix Afena-Gyan was responsible for injuring Wijnaldum - something which manager Jose Mourinho reacted to furiously on Instagram.
"Sometimes football can be s**t," Mourinho wrote. "Gini became one of us because of his human qualities (his football qualities we already knew).
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"Sadly, in a very unfortunate accident he had a bad injury that will keep him away from playing for a long time.
"But it's not just football to be s**t sometimes, people can also be...Those who initiated the rumours that a top kid like Felix could be responsible what happened are real scum."
After leaving Liverpool last summer on a free transfer, Wijnaldum made 38 appearances for PSG in all competitions, but he started just 18 Ligue 1 games and was made available for transfer by new manager Christophe Galtier.
Wijnaldum left to boost his chances ahead of the World Cup but now due to his injury the Dutch international's involvement in the competition is in serious doubt.