It was a moment that amused those watching Napoli’s match with Feyenoord on Tuesday evening in the Champions League, and one that inevitably did the rounds on social media afterwards. After Lorenzo Insigne scored the opening goal at the Stadio San Paolo, he ran over to the bench to make a tribute to team-mate Arkadiusz Milik, who had torn his cruciate ligament at the weekend.
As he was passed the blue Napoli shirt from the bench, it took a minute for the pint-sized forward to realise that Piotr Zielinski had, in fact, passed him his own shirt, rather than the pre-agreed one of his injured colleague. Insigne himself – although clearly a little embarrassed – was amused as he then picked up the correct item from the bench. The incident surely provided some welcome cheer for the Polish striker, but in truth his injury is no laughing matter.
Poi arriva la #99 di #Milik 👉
The 23-year-old signed for Napoli from Ajax last summer as a replacement for the departed Gonzalo Higuain and made an explosive start to the campaign. In his first nine competitive games for the Partenopei, the Polish striker scored seven goals including three braces, but it all turned sour very quickly as Milik went on international duty in October and suffered an ACL tear in a 3-2 victory over Denmark.
Of course the player shed tears as he realised he was set for a long spell on the sidelines, but the injury left Maurizio Sarri with a problem. With three months still to go before he could sign a replacement, Manolo Gabbiadini was the only – and somewhat inadequate – substitute for last year’s 36-goal hero Higuain. Playing the Italian international up front did not work out for Napoli and, after some ineffective displays, he eventually was left on the sidelines until he moved to Southampton that January.
Then came the idea that saved the side, as Dries Mertens was played in the middle of a front three that also included Insigne and Jose Callejon. The Belgian ended up with 34 goals and 11 assists by the end of the season, and Milik’s injury turned out to be a happy accident for everyone except the man himself.
It wouldn’t be until the beginning of February when the striker was back in the Napoli squad, but by this time he had firmly lost his place to Mertens. At the beginning of 2017/18, the Insigne-Mertens-Callejon trio worked far too well for Milik to simply waltz back into the side, Sarri limiting his appearances to one start each in Serie A and the Champions League.
When given the chance, the young forward once again showed what he was capable of, scoring two goals in all competitions even with limited playing time. But history was soon to repeat itself when he was brought on in the 69th minute in Napoli’s weekend fixture against SPAL. After taking a shot, the Poland international fell to the ground in pain, with all those around him taking a sharp intake of breath.
Surely it could not have happened again? Although he walked off unaided, later tests confirmed that he had indeed ruptured his ACL again, this time on his other leg. Members of the press questioned whether the two injuries were related, and whether Milik was rushed back to fitness the first time around, but this was firmly dismissed by Napoli’s team doctor.
“It must be said that people who put together the two things are ignorant and don’t understand the essence of these things,” Alfonso De Nicola told Polish website Przeglad Sportowy. “You can’t link these two injuries, unfortunately these things happen in football. In recent times other Serie A players like Christian Maggio, Mattia Perin, and Luca Paganini have played in a similar situation to Milik. Unfortunately, after a knee injury, some injuries could occur. The previous rehabilitation was done correctly.”
It didn’t matter how the injury had occurred to those who sent messages of support to the player, most notably of all from Roma full-back Alessandro Florenzi, who had gone through the same pain with back-to-back ACL injuries last season. “I’ll see you at the San Paulo and we’ll swap shirts,” he wrote on his Twitter page. “Proud of our strength and being destined to be stronger. A big hug from Ale.”
A long road of rehabilitation and alienation from the rest of the squad lies ahead for Milik and – unfortunately for him – he knows all-too-well that his place in the side is by no means guaranteed even when he does eventually return to action.
