The Nottingham Forest midfielder Danilo has vowed to be “back soon” after breaking his ankle just seven minutes into the new Premier League season.
The 23-year-old sustained the sickening injury when he fell awkwardly after an early aerial challenge with Antoine Semenyo in Forest’s 1-1 draw. He needed nine minutes of treatment, with club staff using blankets to shield him from the crowd, and was transferred straight to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.
Danilo was able to return home later on Saturday and posted on Instagram: “Hey guys, I’m stopping by to say that I’m fine, thank god, and I’m already home. We’ll be back soon and thank you all for the message of support.”
The Forest manager, Nuno Espírito Santo, had already confirmed Danilo will face a lengthy layoff. “It is a horrible one for everybody,” Nuno said. “We are going to miss him, not only on the pitch. We know him, always smiling, always joyful. He is a very important player for us. We wish him all the best.”
Nuno added that “not only our players” were affected by the incident, but “everybody involved in the stadium. It stays in the head of the players.” The Bournemouth manager, Andoni Iraola, added: “We could see straight away [the seriousness of the injury], I realised it’s going to be very bad.”
Forest took the lead not long after Danilo’s injury when Chris Wood struck but Semenyo snatched a point for the visitors in the 86th minute. Bournemouth were without record signing Evanilson, whose move from Porto for a fee that could surpass £40m, was not finalised in time for him to feature at the City Ground.
Lille’s Gomes ‘doing well’ after head injury
The Lille midfielder Angel Gomes is “doing well” after being taken to hospital with a serious head injury, the club President Olivier Letang has said.
Lille’s opening Ligue 1 game with Reims was held up for more than 30 minutes as 23-year-old Gomes was treated on the pitch after colliding with Reims midfielder Amadou Kone. The 23-year-old was taken away on a stretcher, with Lille coach Bruno Génésio saying he was “very, very scared” by the injury, which left Gomes unconscious.
“Angel Gomes is doing pretty well, but we’ll wait to find out how he spends the night, with his additional tests, before saying that we have a definitive ‘happy ending’,” Letang said after the match, which Lille went on to win 2-0.
“The latest news is rather reassuring, but it’s better to be cautious,” Génésio said in a post-match interview. “Angel asked if he was going to play [next] Saturday, which is a good sign if he’s got a sense of humour. For me the match was secondary tonight.” Reuters