As confirmed by official club sources, Davide Zappacosta has suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, and will be out for the foreseeable future, likely to be at least the rest of the season, if not more.
The Chelsea loanee suffered the non-contact injury in Friday’s training with AS Roma. It’s unclear at this point whether he will complete his rehab with the Giallorossi or if he will return to Chelsea as is standard protocol for Chelsea loanees.
Davide Zappacosta suffered a serious knee injury during training on Friday.
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) October 4, 2019
Stay strong Davide - we all hope you make a full recovery as quickly as possible!#ASRoma
It is also unclear what this might mean for Zappacosta’s future prospects. His loan to AS Roma was technically only for six months, as a failsafe for any setbacks at Chelsea with Reece James. Roma were fully expecting to pick up their option for the second half of the season, and were already hinting at making the move permanent at the end of the season.
One would hope that an injury would not derail those plans, but an ACL tear is no joke and can be career-altering. Zappacosta, who had only featured once so far due to an unrelated calf injury, is still relatively young — turned 27 this summer — and should be able to make a full and complete recovery, but it will take some time.
Those questions will surely all be answered in due time. The focus now will be on surgery and recovery. Get well soon, Davide!