Berardi surgeon: ‘Ready in September or October’

Italy and Sassuolo star Domenico Berardi had surgery on a torn Achilles tendon this week and the professor who operated on him suggests ‘he’ll be ready from September or October.’

The winger was making his return to the starting XI following a knee injury when he suddenly pulled up clutching the back of his ankle and it was quickly confirmed to be a torn Achilles tendon.

This effectively rules him out for the rest of the season and will miss the EURO 2024 tournament this summer for the Azzurri as well.

“The surgery went very well,” Professor Stefano Zaffagnini told SassuoloNews.

“The lesion was quite far from the heel, so there were two portions of the Achilles tendon, with a section in the centre that was lacerated.”

He was asked if rushing Berardi back from knee surgery had been behind the latest injury to the Achilles tendon.

“It would not have had any influence, although perhaps the player was not completely ready on a muscular level.”

This type of injury is quite rare and the most recent seen in Italian football was Leonardo Spinazzola during the EURO 2020 tournament.

“Berardi will be able to have a complete recovery and return to the player he was, I’d say from September or October he can be ready to resume playing. He seemed relaxed, now it’s important for people to let him recuperate and not try to stress him out.”

It could be that Berardi has played his last game for Sassuolo, as he had already been pushing to leave last summer, but nobody could meet the €30m asking price.