Reports: Diawara Re-Injures Left Meniscus

Just when it seemed like Roma's injury crisis couldn't get any worse, it did. As if getting bounced from the Coppa Italia by the wretched hands of the Old Lady weren't bad enough, Roma were dealt a double blow in the 76th minute when Amadou Diawara was forced to leave the match due to an apparent injury. While Diawara's exit allowed for the next step in Bruno Peres’ comeback, given everything that Roma has endured on the injury front over the last few weeks years, your heart probably sank when you saw Roma's #42 hobble off the pitch.

Coming mere weeks after Nicolo Zaniolo's ACL injury, your mind likely went to the darkest of places, but thankfully Roma did not add to their assembly of anterior cruciate injuries. But that doesn't necessarily mean we (or more appropriately Diawara) have been granted a reprieve:

According to Il Tempo's Filippo Biafora, the initial diagnosis for Diawara is damage to the external meniscus in his left the knee, the very same knee he had operated on in early October. So, while it's a relief he didn't tear his ACL, this injury could still produce an extended stay on the sidelines.

When Diawara first injured his left meniscus in October against Cagliari, he only missed a month of action, a stretch that included six matches. Compare his injury to the New Orleans Pelicans rising star Zion Williamson, who tore his meniscus and missed over three months, and Diawara's recovery looks miraculous. However, if Biafora's report proves true and Diawara did indeed re-injure his meniscus, he could be looking at a similarly long stretch of recovery.

We'll pass along updates as they become available, but as we mentioned earlier this morning, this injury has already produced a deluge of new midfield-focused transfer rumors. Without any external help, one would imagine the onus falls on Bryan Cristante to pick up the slack, pairing with Jordan Veretout in Paulo Fonseca's double pivot.

It's been an eventful first year in Rome for both Diawara and Fonseca, so we can only wish a speedy recover to the former and some external help for the latter.

Update:

It seems as though the club are going to try the more conservative route, entering Diawara into a physio routine before deciding the next step.