Georginio Wijnaldum has suffered one of the worst possible starts to life at Roma. Just two weeks after joining the Italian giants from PSG, moving to the Italian capital on loan after his horrendous 2021/22 season in Paris, the Dutchman suffered a gutting injury.
The 31-year-old endured a horrible leg break on Sunday during the club's preparations for Monday's showdown with Cremonese. The Serie A outfit later confirmed the former Liverpool ace had fractured his tibia, which not only sidelines him for a significant part of the Giallorossi's season, but also casts his availability for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar under tremendous doubt.
This unfortunate development prompted a heartfelt message from Jose Mourinho, who took to Instagram to pay tribute to his new midfielder. Additionally, the Special One was also enraged by those alleging Felix Afena-Gyan was behind Wijnaldum's horrific injury and defended the 19-year-old Ghanaian attacker.
"Sometimes football can be s**t. In only 2 weeks, Gini became one of us because of his human qualities (his football qualities we already knew)," the Special One wrote in his caption alongside a picture of him holding up a Roma jersey with the words "Forza Gini".
"Sadly, in a very unfortunate accident he had a bad injury that will keep him away from playing for a long time.
"But it's not just football to be s**t sometimes, people can also be...
"Those who initiated the rumors that a top kid like Felix could be responsible for what happened are real scum.
"Let's all be together tonight: we play for Roma, for Wijnaldum, and for Felix Afena-Gyan."
Wijnaldum will undergo further assessment in order to determine the length of his absence, but the Dutchman is expected to be out for several months nonetheless. Qatar 2022 kicks off on November 20, which is roughly three months away, meaning the midfielder faces a race against the clock to recover.
Roma, meanwhile, must regain their focus ahead of their first home game of the 2022/23 Serie A campaign. The UEFA Europa Conference League champions began the campaign with a 1-0 victory over Salernitana and will be looking to make it back-to-back victories.
