Tomori’s injury appears serious – he will be out at least a month

Fikayo Tomori is the latest player to enter the treatment room for AC Milan, and the suggestion is that he could be out for some time.

La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) talks about how Antonio Candreva’s goal for Salernitana in the 2-2 draw on Friday night was symbolic of Milan’s season, as he netted while Tomori lay on the ground injured.

Tomori’s right thigh flexor muscle is what has been affected. While awaiting the outcome of the MRI scan, the feeling is that it is a serious injury, certainly not a passing fatigue or annoyance which means he will be out for a month or more.

Tomori had always remained on the front line amid the defensive emergency, without ever retreating. In the league he started 16 out of 17 matches, with the exception of the derby missed due to suspension.

For 13 consecutive games in Serie A he played from the start, the first 12 of them for the full 90 minutes, while he also played all six Champions League group stage games too.

Now, Simon Kjaer is back to being relied upon. The muscle strain suffered at the end of October evolved into an inflammation that only resolved in mid-December. He played just over an hour against Monza and started against Salernitana.

Previously he had been a starter in the league on three occasions, only two consecutively. In the Champions League one minute played of the 540 minutes total. Physical ailments have pushed him back in the hierarchies, the troubles of others bring him back to the front.

Against Sassuolo he will be partnered by Jan-Carlo Simic, an 18-year-old ‘called up in rush to the final exam’. He played 66 minutes and got a debut goal against Monza and then he played the second half on Friday evening.

Over the weekend at San Siro the center of the defence will be represented by two generations: Kjaer, 34 years old, and Simic, who is18. The alternative on the bench will be someone almost the same age as Simic, Clinton Nsiala, with a year more experience.