By Miguel Rapetti
The chilling and shocking knee injury that French centre-back Mouctar Diakhaby suffered last Saturday almost at the end of the match in Valencia’s 2-2 draw against Real Madrid could be more serious than initially speculated and could force the footballer to retire from football.
A first medical report announced by Valencia once Diakhaby entered a medical center to undergo an MRI indicated that he had suffered from an irregular dislocation of the knee, but now the doctor in charge of the recovery, Enrique Gastaldi, offered a balance that It can even be pessimistic for the defender’s recovery.
Gastaldi, who specializes in traumatology and has been part of operations on other soccer players, stated that the priority, in principle, will be to ensure that he can walk again without problems but that it is complex because his injury caused other equally serious ones at the same time.
“Diakhaby has the most serious knee injury a footballer can suffer,” Gastaldi said. “It is creepy. The dislocation has taken the anterior cruciate ligament and the posterior cruciate ligament in front.”
“In injuries like this, the first thing to look for is for the patient to be able to walk again,” Gastaldi added about the not very encouraging outlook for his recovery.
The specialist’s analysis coincided with what was seen on the field of the Mestalla stadium, in Valencia, where the players of both teams raised their hands to their heads and made gestures on their faces as they witnessed what Diakhaby was suffering.
In principle it had been said that Diakhaby’s recovery time could be 10 or 12 months, but given the seriousness of the situation it could take longer or even lead to an early retirement from professional football at the age of 27.
Despite this, Diakhaby assured that he is strong about what he is experiencing but that he will do everything in his power to return to the playing fields as soon as possible.
“I want to thank you all for the many messages of support I received yesterday (Saturday) after the game against Real (…) I will do everything possible to return to the field as soon as possible and even stronger,” he said.
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