Romelu Lukaku reaggravates hamstring in second game back after two months out

Hamstring strains can be some of the most annoying “minor”-ish injuries for athletes, often lasting well beyond initial recovery estimates and with relatively high recurrence rates, and that’s proving the case for Romelu Lukaku right now as well.

The Chelsea prodigal son record signing loanee had finally returned from two months out last week, making a 7-minute appearance for Inter Milan midweek in the Champions League (with a goal, too!) and a 22-minute appearance on Saturday in Serie A ... and then an appearance at the doctor’s office, where they confirmed the bad news. Lukaku has reaggravated the injury, with scans showing “a strain in the myocardial scar of the femoral biceps of the left thigh” — a.k.a. he pulled it again.

Lukaku’s slow initial comeback was already causing concern about his general fitness (with a few shocking headlines, even), and this certainly won’t help that notion. Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi is still hopeful that the 29-year-old can return before the World Cup break (while Romelu himself is undoubtedly hoping he won’t have to miss the World Cup itself).

“He had a little problem with his scar, when he came on in Saturday’s game. There was a statement from the club, he will have to rest for a few days and then he will be re-evaluated at the end of the week. It’s a slowdown that we didn’t want, he was giving us a lot in this period, hopefully we can reuse him before the break.”

-Simone Inzaghi; source: Football-Italia

With a grand total of just five appearances (three starts) and just 250 minutes played so far this season, it’s safe to say that Lukaku’s glorious return to Milan has been far from that. And one can only assume that’s not doing his chances of staying with them beyond this season any additional favors either.

So, hopefully this little setback proves nothing more than just a tiny delay and he returns quickly to great success for both Belgium and then Inter.